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<br />APR 2 2 2002
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<br />JAN 1 5 Z!OIl
<br />Mr. Larry R Dozier
<br />Chairman, Colorado River Basin
<br />Salinity Control Advisory Council
<br />Central Arizona Water Conservancy District
<br />PaS! Office Box 43020
<br />Phoenix, Arizona 85080-3020
<br />
<br />Dear Mr. Dozier:
<br />
<br />Thank you for your letter of January 14, 2002, to Secretary Veneman, regarding a copy of the
<br />Advisory Council's 2001 Annual Repon on the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control (CRBSe)
<br />Program. Your letter has been referred to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
<br />for response. .
<br />
<br />The Council expressed concern regarding the redirection of some of the fiscal year (FY) 2002
<br />Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) budget. The Congressional Budget
<br />Committee agreed to language granting the Secretary the authority to use up to $13 million of the
<br />FY 2002 EQIP $200 million budget for technical assistance for the Conservation Reserve
<br />Program (CRP). Because of funding limitations contained in section II in the Commodity
<br />Credit Corporation Charter, the Secretary has redirected the $13 million. This language is
<br />contained in the FY 2002 agriculture appropriations conference report.
<br />
<br />NRCS did allocate approximately $5.44 million to the CRBSC program in FY 2002 from the
<br />$187 million EQIP budget. This is a decrease of approximately $340,000 from the FY 2001
<br />EQIP funding of salinity control activities. Approximately $577,000 of the $5.44 million was
<br />non-salinity EQIP funds redirected into salinity project areas at the discretion of State
<br />Conservationists. The national demand for EQIP in FY 2002 continues to be about 3: 1 (funding
<br />requests to actUal funds available). NRCS was able to increase funding for addressing priority
<br />salinity natural resource concerns above that for other competing natural resource concerns.
<br />
<br />Additionally, NRCS continues to be very pleased with the effective leveraging of funds through
<br />the Basin States cost-share program. This leveraging of funds from the Basin States cost.share
<br />program, in conjunction with EQIP, has and will continue to greatly increase the rate of
<br />implementation of salinity control practices in the Basin_ ~"R.CS is willing to continue to work
<br />with the Work Group to solicit their input in FY 2003 for identifying how EQIP funds may be
<br />most cost.effectively spent in the Basin.
<br />
<br />The Western Salinity Coordinator located in SaIt Lake City, Utah, coordinated with the NRCS
<br />project staff in Colorado, Utah. and Wyoming to collect the amount of funds allocated to the
<br />variops projects for FY 2002. This data was collected and finalized in ~arch 2002.
<br />
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