Approving long-term contracts for delivery of water from Navajo Reservoir in the state of New Mexico, and for other purposes


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Source: 90th Congress, 1st Session, Senate, Report No. 821

APPROVING LONG-TERM CONTRACTS FOR DELIVERY OF WATER FROM NAVAJO RESERVOIR IN THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES


NOVEMBER 29 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 28), 1967.--Ordered to be printed


Mr. ANDERSON, from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S.J. Res. 123]

The Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, to which was referred the joint resolution (S.J. Res. 123) to approve long-term contracts for delivery of water from Navajo Reservoir in the State of New Mexico, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the joint resolution do pass.

Purpose of the Legislation

This measure will grant authority to the Secretary of Interior to enter into two repayment contracts for the sale of water for industrial purposes from the Navajo Reservoir in New Mexico.

NEED FOR THE LEGISLATION

Normally such congressional approval is not required when the Department of the Interior markets water from Federal projects. However, when Public Law 87-483 authorizing the Navajo Indian Irrigation project and the San Juan-Chama project as participating projects of the Colorado River Storage project was enacted in 1962, the Secretary of Interior was also authorized to market water from Navajo Reservoir for other municipal and industrial uses in New Mexico if he determines on the basis of hydrologic investigation that such water is reasonably likely to be available.

The act provided that before the Secretary shall enter into a repayment contract he should submit the hydrologic determination to Congress and the Congress must approve the contracts.

Such a determination has been submitted to Congress along with two contracts and the joint resolution would grant approval. One hundred thousand acre-feet has been determined to be available for annual depletion through the year 2005. The present contracts would deplete 16,250 acre-feet of this amount.

This is the first instance the committee is aware of where Congress has had to approve repayment contracts for the sale of water from a Bureau of Reclamation project. Although the law only requires the approval of Congress it was felt advisable to submit a joint resolution which will require Presidential signature.

PRESENT CONTRACTS

By letter of November 21 the Secretary of Interior advised Congress of his determination of water availability and submitted contracts signed by two New Mexico corporations. These two companies and the uses to which they will put the water are as follows:

Water diversion (acre-feet) Estimated water depletion (acre-feet) Proposed uses
Public Service Co. of New Mexico 20,200 16,200 Thermalelectric generation.
Southern Union Gas Co. 50 50 Pump cooling.
Total 20,250 16,250

Senate Joint Resolution 123 provides authority for the Secretary to enter into amendments to these contracts, if necessary, but only for the purposes of water conservation. In any event no amendment could be made which would cause the total water depletion to exceed the estimates set forth above and embodied in the joint resolution.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION

U.S. Department of the Interior,
Office of the Secretary
Washington, D.C., November 21, 1967.

Hon. HUBERT H. HUMPHREY,
President of the Senate,
Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: Enclosed is a draft of a proposed joint resolution, to approve long-term contracts for delivery of water from Navajo Reservoir in the State of New Mexico, and for other purposes.

We recommend that this joint resolution be referred to the appropriate committee for consideration, and we recommend that it be enacted.

The act of June 13, 1962 (76 Stat. 96, Public Law 87-483), authorized the construction and operation of the Navajo Indian Irrigation project and the San Juan-Chama project as participating projects of the Colorado River Storage project. The act also authorized the Secretary to market water from Navajo Reservoir for other municipal and industrial uses in New Mexico if he determines on the basis of hydrologic investigation that such water is reasonably likely to be available. Section 11 (a) of the act provides in part that:

‘‘No long-term contract, except contracts for the benefit of the lands and for the purposes specified in sections 2 [Navajo Indian Irrigation project] and 8 [San Juan-Chama project] of this act, shall be entered into for the delivery of water stored in Navajo Reservoir or of any other waters of the San Juan River and its tributaries, as aforesaid, until the Secretary has determined by hydrologic investigation that sufficient water to fulfill said contract is reasonably likely to be available for use in the State of New Mexico during the term thereof under the allocations made in articles III and XIV of the Upper Colorado River Basin compact, and has submitted such determination to the Congress of the United States and the Congress has approved such contracts.’’

I hereby determine that sufficient water is reasonably likely to be available under the provisions of section 11 (a) to fulfill contracts that involve water depletions up to 100,000 acre-feet annually through the year 2005. The basis for this determination is explained in the enclosure entitled ‘‘Hydrologic Determinations.’’

Also enclosed with this letter are copies of the following two contracts which have been negotiated for the delivery of water from Navajo Reservoir for municipal and industrial use in the Four Corners area of New Mexico. They involve an estimated water depletion of 16,250 acre-feet annually, and are within the preceding determination.

Water diversion (acre-feet) Estimated water depletion (acre-feet) Proposed uses
Public Service Co. of New Mexico 20,200 16,200 Thermalelectric generation.
Southern Union Gas Co 50 50 Pump cooling.
Total 20,250 16,250

A summary of the contract provisions is enclosed.

The purpose of the proposed legislation is to approve the execution of these contracts. Other contracts within the 100,000 acre-feet total will be submitted for approval after they are processed within the Department.

The Bureau of the Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this proposed legislation from the standpoint of the administration's program.

Sincerely yours,

KENNETH HOLUM,
Assistant Secretary of the Interior.

JOINT RESOLUTION To approve long-term contracts for delivery of water from Navajo Reservoir in the State of New Mexico, and for other purposes

Whereas section 11 (a) of the Act of June 13, 1962 (76 Stat. 96, Public Law 87-483), provides that: ‘‘No long-term contract, except contracts for the benefit of the lands and for the purposes specified in sections 2 [Navajo Indian Irrigation Project] and 8 [San Juan-Chama Project] of this Act, shall be entered into for the delivery of water stored in Navajo Reservoir or of any other waters of the San Juan River and its tributaries, as aforesaid, until the Secretary has determined by hydrologic investigation that sufficient water to fulfill said contract is reasonably likely to be available for use in the State of New Mexico during the term thereof under the allocations made in articles III and XIV of the Upper Colorado River Basin compact and has submitted such determination to the Congress of the United States and the Congress has approved such contracts.’’; and

Whereas the Secretary has made such determination in connection with the following contracts transmitted to Congress by letter dated

Water diversion (acre-feet) Estimated water depletion (acre-feet) Proposed uses
Public Service Co. of New Mexico 20,200 16,200 Thermalelectric generation.
Southern Union Gas Co 50 50 Pump cooling.
Total 20,250 16,250

Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That such contracts are hereby approved by the Congress. The Secretary may enter into amendments thereto which would in his judgment be in the interest of water conservation, but the total water depletion shall not exceed the estimates set forth in this joint resolution.

HYDROLOGIC DETERMINATIONS

Determinations as to the availability of water under long-term service contracts for municipal and industrial uses from Navajo Reservoir involve a projection into the future of estimated water uses and water supplies. On the basis of such hydrologic studies, water depletions under municipal and industrial contracts could reasonably be allowed to rise to 100,000 acre-feet annually through the year 2005.

To avoid a critical compact interpretation, we assume that the upper basin will be obligated to deliver 75 million acre-feet of water every 10 years at Lee Ferry, plus 750,000 acre-feet annually toward Mexican treaty deliveries. This would require an average annual water delivery at Lee Ferry of at least 8,250,000 acre-feet. This assumption is not to be considered as an interpretation of the upper basin obligation for water delivery at Lee Ferry under the Colorado River compact. It represents, rather, a practical and conservative approach for the purposes of the present determination required by section 11 (a).

In August 1965, we provided the Congress with the following water data in connection with the proposed Lower Colorado River project

Year of development Acre-feet
2000 2030
Estimated normal annual depletion in upper basin 5,430,000 5,800,000
Estimated annual Lee Ferry regulated delivery 8,600,000 8,250,000

Water deliveries at Lee Ferry, in the absence of depletions under proposed long-term municipal and industrial contracts, would in all probability be at least 8,500,000 acre-feet annually through year 2005. Contracts involving a depletion of up to 100,000 acre-feet would leave more than enough water to meet the 8,250,000 acre-feet estimated annual delivery requirement even in year 2030. On this basis, we conclude that the expansion of water uses now envisioned in the upper basin by 2005, including deliveries under long-term contracts involving 100,000 acre-feet depletions, would not impair the upper basin's ability to meet its water delivery obligation at Lee Ferry.

As to water use in the upper basin, subsection (b) of article III of the Upper Colorado River Basin compact permits New Mexico or any other upper basin State to use waters in excess of its percentage allotment, provided such excess use does not prohibit any of the remaining States from utilizing its respective allotment. Thus, the availability of Navajo Reservoir water for municipal and industrial purposes in New Mexico through year 2005 depends upon the extent of water use in the entire upper basin during that period as well as upon the physical availability of water in Navajo Reservoir.

Hydrologic studies based on repetition of the 1928-65 water runoff period, which includes the severest drought period of record, and with water depletions anticipated during the 38 years prior to the year 2005, indicate with reasonable certainty the availability of a sufficient amount of water from Navajo Reservoir for the proposed municipal and industrial water delivery contracts, with reasonable shortages to be borne at times by all diverters from Navajo Reservoir. Pertinent data from the operation study on the shortages are summarized below.

Navajo Indian irrigation project Hammond project M. & I. contracts
Number of years of study 38 38 38
Number of years of full supply 35 35 35
Assigned shortage (percent of normal diversion requirement):
1955 10 10 10
1956 40 40 40
1964 26 26 26
Average for 38 years 2 2 2

We, therefore, conclude that water deliveries specified in the proposed municipal and industrial contracts can be provided from Navajo Reservoir with reasonable shortages.

SUMMARY OF CONTRACT TERMS

I. Each of the proposed contracts provides for--

1.Termination in year 2005, and subject to renewal or extension only if such is authorized by law;
2.A sharing of shortages in accordance with law, compact, and treaty;
3.Advance payment for the water to be delivered at an annual rate of $7 per acre-foot;
4.Water pollution control provisions on return flows; and
5.Standard provisions for penalties for delinquency in payment, water measurement, and responsibility for distribution, water quality, recordkeeping, conflict of interest, equal employment opportunity, etc.

II. The proposed contract with Public Service Co. of New Mexico also provides for--

1.Termination of the contract for nonuse of the water after January 1, 1977;
2.Advance approval by the Secretary of contractor's designs, plans, and specifications for facilities or major modifications thereof which will utilize the contracted water;
3.Air pollution control standards, with provision for review of these standards not less often than each 10 years, and with the further condition that in case agreement cannot be reached between the contractor and the United States on designs, plans, or equipment, the matter shall be submitted to arbitration;
4.Coordination of Federal and non-Federal generating and transmission facilities as a precedent to the delivery of water for thermal-electric generation.

Up: Documents List Previous: Authorizing Construction of the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project and the Initial Stage of the San Juan-Chama Project as participating projects of the Colorado River Storage Project Next: Statement of Norman L. Bowman, Director of Resources Division, the Navajo Tribe




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