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<br />, . 01357 <br /> <br />UK At- I <br /> <br />unless those projects meet the criteria in numbered paragraph one of the 1983 <br /> <br />Agreement. Once again, Western lacks either the statutory authority or the <br /> <br />technical expertise to judge which State projects are reasonable. Further- <br /> <br />more, neither equity nor legal principles allow Western to require the States <br /> <br />to comply with an Agreement to which they were not parties. Therefore, the <br /> <br />Commission requests that FERC remand Western's interim rates and order Western <br /> <br />to use the States' depletion tables as is without assuming additional water <br /> <br />will be available by ignoring "uncertain. . out-year depletion estimates" (59 <br /> <br />FR 55105-06). <br /> <br />Finally, Western is violating the express terms of the 1983 Agreement as <br /> <br />applied to authorized CRSP participating projects by failing to include full <br /> <br />depletion projections for some Federal projects that satisfy the Agreement's <br /> <br />criteria in numbered paragraph one for inclusion in the rate. Specifically, <br /> <br />the Animas-La Plata Project and the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project meet the <br /> <br />criteria in paragraph one, yet Western's rate has been determined by postpo- <br /> <br />ning the depletions associated with a portion of each of these projects beyond <br /> <br />the rate-setting period. No doubt this lowers the power rate, but it violates <br /> <br />both the explicit terms of the 1983 Agreement and the CRSP Act's statutory <br /> <br />requirement that the rate ensure full repayment of authorized participating <br /> <br />projects. Therefore, the Commission urges FERC to remand Westernls interim <br /> <br />rate and order Western to comply with the 1983 Agreement and the CRSP Act. <br /> <br />Equity <br />In its final response to comments on depletion-related issues, Western <br /> <br />states that it agrees with a comment by the attorney for a po~er customer ~ho <br /> <br />stated, in part, that lithe power users should not be punished because of <br /> <br />delays in Upper Basin water use development and fears of Upper Basin water <br /> <br />8 <br />