Report on Lower Colorado River Project

Report: United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, "Report on Lower Colorado River Project," Revised Draft, 6/7/63, page 58Almost 93 percent of the total project cost of $2,423,243,000 has been assigned as being reimbursable. Those coats assigned to irrigation are to be repaid without interest, while those assigned to power and municipal and industrial uses are repaid with interest. In this highly productive agricultural area of the South west, irrigation water users can pay $11 per acre-foot for water and still meet all production costs and have a reasonable level of living. This represents nearly $32,144,200 annually in revenues from irrigation water sales. Municipal and industrial water users are required by Federal policy to repay those costs associated with the works providing this service. Costs of water for municipal and industrial purposes have been determined to be $58 per acre-foot or 18 cents per 1000 gallons of water. This cost is reasonable and can be repaid during the repayment period. Power costs are likewise repaid with interest. In developing the repayment analysis for the study, commercial power revenue form the potential Bridge Canyon and Marble Canyon powerplants were computed at $15,30 per installed kilowatt and 3 mills per kilowatt-hour. Hoover, Parker, and Davis power production was computed at 5 mills per kilowatt-hour after expiration of present contracts. At these rates the power components would repay their costs within less than 50 years, and the additional revenue could be used to assist the irrigation water uses and provide revenue for other vitally needed resource development. 39Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 2,998,687 byte