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<br />, <br />. > <br />. .. ..~::=-:-:..~-; <br />.:.~ : <br /> <br />. . <br />NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION <br /> <br />. , <br /> <br />0362 <br /> <br />1412 Sixteenth Street, N.W.. Washington, D.C. 20036 <br /> <br />202-797-6800 <br /> <br />Hay 22, 1984 <br /> <br />This report traces the failure of the Department of the Interior <br />to achieve the timely recovery of billions of dollars invested <br />in six major water projects of the Bureau of Reclamation. We <br />believe that this problem is a serious one and that corrective <br />action should be undertaken immediately. <br /> <br />For years, conservationists have been trying to reform the <br />"pork-barrel" approach to Federal water resources development <br />-- dams, harbors, canals, and the like. Since the landmark <br />report of the National Ilater Commission in 1973, a major thrust <br />of this reform effort has been to seek greater financial <br />participation from the beneficiaries of the program -- the "user <br />pays. principle. By reducing subsidies for water development <br />projects, we hope to conserve natural resources as well as <br />Federal tax dollars. <br /> <br />The price of water and hydroelectric power provided by the <br />Bureau of Reclamation's dams is heavily subsidized by the <br />Federal government. The result of this subsidized pricing <br />policy is the excessive use of water and energy resources, and <br />constant political pressure for the construction of new darns <br />with similarly lucrative pricing arrahgements. The <br />recommendations made by the Inspector General for greater cost <br />recovery will not eliminate this subsidized pricing policy. But <br />their adoption would begin to move the Reclamation progran in <br />the right direction, ending some of the least defensible <br />repayment practices that blatantly shortchange the Treasury. <br /> <br />At a time when the U.s. is saddled with enormous Federal <br />deficits, it is utterly incongruous for the Department of the <br />Interior to fail to secure the fullest return permitted on the <br />taxpayers' investment in costly water projects. This report <br />presents an unusually clear picture of bureaucratic self-defense <br />and resistance to change. The unbusinesslike practices condoned <br />by the Department should be a cause of concern to the Congress, <br />the Secretary of the Interior, the private sector, and the <br />general public. <br /> <br />/5Z <br /> <br /> <br />o\~ ~ H-unv <br /> <br />BEt;JANIN C. DYSART <br />President <br /> <br />JAY D. HAIR <br />Executive Vice President <br />