WSP03422

• File Number: 8220.111.O
• Description: Central Utah Participating Project
• State: UT
• Basin: Colorado Mainstem
• Date: 9/9/1985
• Author: US Gen. Accounting
• Title: Report to the Honorable Howard M. Metzenbaum US Senate Bureau of Reclamation's Central Utah and Central Valley Projects Repayment Arrangements
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

APPENDIX I

APPENDIX I

WHY GAO CONDUCTED ITS REVIEW

On November 8, 1984, Senator Howard M. Metzenbaum asked us
to determine whether the existing repayment contract2 for the
Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah project is adequate to repay
the cost of the unit and, if not, what steps are being taken to
amend the contract.

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To meet our objective, we interviewed Bureau officials;
reviewed documents at the Bureau's Upper Colorado Regional Office
in Salt Lake City, Utah; and its Utah Projects Office in Provo,
Utah, and contacted the Repayment Branch Chief at Bureau
headquarters. To obtain background information on the Bonneville
Unit and assess potential for repayment, we reviewed reports and
correspondence prepared by the Department of the Interior's
Office of Inspector General, the National wildlife Federation,
and the Utah Natural Resources Department.

On April 22, 1985, we sent a letter to Interior's Assistant
Secretary for Water and Science questioning certain of the
Bureau's actions regarding the Bonneville unit and requesting
clarification of certain issues. The Assistant Secretary has not
yet responded to our letter. AS agreed with the Senator's
office, we will provide him with the response and our evaluation
of it when available.

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. Our analysis of the unit's repayment status is based on
Bureau cost data. We did not verify these data or assess their
reliability. The information presented reflects the most current
available at the time of our review--February to June 1985;
however, many of the actions discussed are tentative;

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COST ALLOCATION AND REPAYMENT

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The Bureau
Bonneville Unit
$329.1 million.

published a definite plan report for the
in 1964. The plan estimated a project cost
The reimbursable costs were estimated at

of

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2The Reclamation project Act of 1939 requires the Bureau to
recover all M&I costs, with interest, if the Secretary of the
Interior determines that an interest charge is proper (as he did
in this instance, and irrigation costs which are recovered
without interest. Under the Colorado River storage Project Act
of 1956, power revenues may be used to pay irrigation costs
which are beyond the irrigators' ability to pay.

3