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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />O~r~n~ <br />lJt.tJU <br /> <br />For Interior, the amendment (Public Law 98-569) provides for the following actions not <br />previously included in the Bureau of Reclamation program. <br /> <br />o Authorization of construction of Stage I of the Lower <br />Gunnison Basin Unit and the McElmo Creek Unit as a <br />part of the Dolores Project. <br /> <br />o The use of cost-effectiveness as a decisionmaking criterion. <br /> <br />o Joint feasibility studies with industrial water users as a part of ongoing Saline <br />Water Use and Disposal Opportunities activities. <br /> <br />o Authority for the Secretary of the Interior to contract with non-Federal entities <br />for organization, construction, operation, maintenance, and replacement of <br />authorized salinity control facilities. <br /> <br />o Authority to concurrently replace incidental fish and wildlife values foregone as <br />salinity control units are constructed. <br /> <br />o <br /> <br />Thirty percent reimbursable from the Upper and Lower Basin funds on the newly <br />authorized units to be repaid either during the year the expenditures are made or <br />over time with interest. By comparison, 25 percent of the construction costs of <br />previously authorized units are to be repaid from the Basin Fund over 50 years <br />without interest. <br /> <br />o Compliance with procedural and substantive State water law. <br /> <br />o Deauthorization of the Crystal Geyser Unit initially authorized for construction <br />under Public Law 93-320. <br /> <br />In addition, the Secretary of the Interior was directed to do advance planning studies on <br />Sinbad Valley, a Bureau of Land Management (ELM) project. <br /> <br />Interior's Role <br /> <br />Federal coordination is accomplished using the lead agency concept. Reclamation, <br />acting as lead agency for the secretary of the Interior, has the responsibility to <br />implement salinity control measures. Interagency coordination between Interior and <br />USDA is formalized through a series of joint agreements executed at the Departmental <br />level. Coordination at the field administrative/technical level is accomplished through <br />the Colorado River Interagency Salinity Control Committee. <br /> <br />3 <br />