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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. , <br /> <br />ECONOMIC EVALUATION <br /> <br />Benefit-Cost Analysis <br /> <br />Table 1 displays investment costs, annual equivalent costs, annual <br />benefits, and benefit-cost ratios for two alternative developments. <br />Flood control was deleted from one analysis because the separable costs <br />associated with that purpose exceed benefits by about $600,000 annually. <br />The last official estimate provided by the Corps of Engineers, dated <br />November 1977, showed annual flood control benefits of $836,000. <br /> <br />Table 1 is based on the authorized 3.25 percent discount rate and a <br />100-year period of analysis. Development of the Narrows Unit including <br />M&I water is economically justified since the benefit-cost ratios are <br />greater th an 1: l. <br /> <br />Direct irrigat ion benefits were based on the increased net farm income <br />that could be realized by construction of the unit. Indirect and <br />pUblic irrigation benefits measure resp'ectively the value of processing <br />the increased agricultural production and the expected stabilization of <br />the local economy. An additional benefit would be some OM&R savings to <br />the Jackson Lake irrigators. New water estimated to be available for <br />determinat ion of irrigat ion benefits cons ists of 77,000 acre-feet of <br />stored water to be released annually at the reservoir and 24,500 acre- <br />feet annually of usable return flows, for a total of 101,500 acre-feet. <br /> <br />Annua 1 benefits derived from fi sh and wil dl ife enhancement were prov ided <br />in the Fish and Wildlife Service's memorandum of November 4, 1975. The <br />National Park Service computed annual benefits from expected recreat ion <br />visitation at the Narrows Unit and reported those benefits in a memoran- <br />dum dated February 17, 1976. <br /> <br />Table 1 reflects a 25,000 acre-foot yield available annually for <br />beneficial use by M&I entities. Benef;its are based on $200 per acre- <br />foot, which approximates the current will ingness to pay for existing <br />highly reliable water supplies in the So~th Platte River valley. <br /> <br />6 <br />