WSP05845

• File Number: 8507
• Description: Rio Grande Project
• State: CO
• Basin: Rio Grande
• Date: 7/1/1997
• Title: Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin part 2
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

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The Economic Selling

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obligation in special circumstances, such as drought or economic hardship
(U.S. General Accounting Office 1996). Each of these elements, especially
the first one, is difficult to estimate. Tables 2.6 and 2.7 report some financial
information for projects in the Basin, showing the allocation of initial costs
among irrigation and other purposes, and then summarizing the repayment
status ofthe portion allocated to irrigation.

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Table 2.6.-Allocation of costs for Federal projects in the basin, September 1994 ($000)
Flood Recrea- Fish and
Project Irrigation M&I' Power control tion wildlife Other'
Middle 15,974 0 0 0 202 0 22,615
Rio
Grande
Rio 25,661 0 13,301 1,574 608 0 1,000
Grande
San 34,614 39,332 0 0 901 7,960 0
Juan-
Cham a
San Luis 2,332 0 0 1,643 0 0 0
Valley
Source: U.S. General Accounting Office (1996).
1 Municipal and industrial water supply.
2 Other nonreimbursable costs, such as water quality, investigations, and the Settlement Land
Program.

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Although exact amounts ofthe subsidies are not known, one summary
estimate of the average subsidy-greater than $50 per af-to all irrigators
using water from all the Bureau of Reclamation's (BuRec's) projects provides
some context (Secretary of the Interior 1994). Ifthis estimate applies to
irrigation in the Basin, then each of the values attributed to water in Table
2.5 would be reduced by $50 per aflac. Making this adjustment would lower
the overall net earnings in 1995 per af of water from $105 to $55 per aflac.
The adjusted net earnings for pasture would become negative, -$31 per aflac,
indicating that the total cost-to the farm business plus federal
taxpayers-would exceed the value of the forage produced.

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