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<br />1999 ANNUAL REPORT <br /> <br />o <br />CO appreciates Reclamation's willingness to include the Forum's Work Group in this process, <br />W <br />N particularly on the committee that evaluates and selects the projects to be funded and implemented. <br />The Council feels this relationship is most appropriate as the Basin states have up-front cost shared <br />30% of the costs of these projects to satisfy the Salinity Control Act's requirement that the Basin <br />states reimburse the federal government from the Basin Fund for their share of the cost of the <br />program. <br /> <br />The Council is pleased that the current Administration continues to seek a certain level of funding, <br />albeit an inadequate level, from the Congress to financially support the implementation of <br />Reclamation's basin-wide salinity control program and hopes this support in the future will not only <br />recognize the importance of including sufficient funding to operate and maintain completed projects <br />but also to eliminate the current shortfall in salinity control. It is again noted that the Basin states' <br />30% up-front cost share is available to fully support the Forum's adopted plan of implementation. <br />The Council recognizes that the Forum has concurred with the utilization of Basin Funds to begin <br />a study of the Bridger Valley area in Wyoming and Utah and recommends that Reclamation seek <br />funding to match that provided by the Basin states. <br /> <br />The Council is concerned that the other involved federal agencies may be using protocols to <br />determine the cost effectiveness of salinity control efforts that are not consistent with those used by <br />Reclamation. The Council understands that during the reporting year the federal agencies met on <br />this subject. The Council encourages Reclamation to more aggressively pursue its responsibility as <br />lead federal agency and reconvene the federal work group to provide a forum for discussing and <br />evaluating the direction, rate and monitoring of implementation of the federal program by each of <br />the involved federal agencies. This request was made in the Council's report last year, however, the <br />Council has not noted significant progress in this regard. In fact, concerns have been raised by some <br /> <br />COLORADO RIVER BASIN SALINITY CONTROL ADVISORY COUNCIL <br /> <br />5 <br /> <br />iL "" <br />