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Umax, Powerlook 2100XL, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 14,347,880 bytesSenator Stevens. Thank you very much, Mr. Smith. I looked over the attachments. We are familiar with the Salt River project. It is one of the earliest we have had. I am interested in one thing. You say gross income from farmland is almost $9 million, and new development will more than double the agricultural income, of these 15,000 acres. If that is so, why do you need the additional money? Mr. Smith. The 15,000 acres is presently developed at $9 million, including 15,000 acres we are farming now. The additional money is to rehabilitate that 15,000, in addition to that to develop an additional 15,000 acres, for a total of 30,000 developed acres. Senator Stevens. From what I know about irrigation projects, it seems that you have a very high income per acre right now. What I am asking is why isn't the project income sufficient to finance the expansion and rehabilitation? Mr. Smith. Most of the lands that we are farming are not fully developed. A big portion of that $9 million goes to payment of leasing of land from our community members by the farmers. About one-third of that $9 million goes itno the payment of the O. & M. charges, in developing lands that are not fully developed. The remaining portion, of course, is operating expenses for the farmer; $9 million is for growth. Senator Stevens. You mean the project pays the farmer for the rent of his land that he farms? Mr. Smith. The farm enterprise that we have leases the land from the community members, from the allottees of our land, of which an average of $50 an acre is paid to the individual allottee. The range itself actually starts from $20 an acre to $65 an acre, depending on how well developed the land is. In this process we have a corporation of five members of our community that own the farm corporation but they subcontract to other farmers, subcontract for specialized products, such as lettuce, onions, and other staple items that we grow in our community. Senator Stevens. Is this a project supervised by BIA, Mr. Smith? Mr. Smith. No. They assist us with some of the technical aspects, but it is not supervised by the BIA. Senator Stevens. Your corporation is organized under State law, is it? Mr. Smith. Yes. It is not a tribal corporation. It is a corporation comprised of five of our community members that have gone into the program. We recently had another community member also go in, so we have two corporations operating in our community, but they are comprised of our own community members. Senator Stevens. That was the first Indian reclamation dam, wasn't it, Salt River? Mr. Smith. I cannot be sure. Senator Stevens. Thank you very much. We appreciate your statement