AUTHORIZING THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR TO CONSTRUCT, OPERATE, AND MAINTAIN THE VERMEJO RECLAMATION PROJECT, NEW MEXICO JUNE 1, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. MILES, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 3788) The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 3788) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct, operate, and maintain the Vermejo reclamation project, New Mexico, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass. The amendment is as follows: Page 2, line 14, following the comma insert the words "sediment control". EXPLANATION OF THE BILL The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct, operate, and maintain the Vermejo reclamation project. The project area is located in the northeastern part of the State of New Mexico in Colfax County, near the village of Maxwell, and about 27 miles south of Raton. At the present time the lands within the proposed project area are served by the Maxwell Irrigation Co., a mutual organization owned by farmers of the area. However, due to gradual sedimentation of reservoirs, damage to impounding structures, and deterioration of canals and laterals, the project is no longer self-sustaining and the Irrigators are financially unable to make the necessary improvements. The Department of the Interior's plan for the potential Vermejo project is designed primarily to improve and stabilize the economy of the area and to improve the utilization of the water and land resources, thereby assuring continued existence of the project area as a social and economic unit which is extremely important to the State and the Nation. The plan involves, also, the acquisition of about 5,200 acres of land and water on the low-lying portion of the project for wildlife development and management purposes. A system of regulated ponds would be provided for wildlife and waterfowl improvement and a waterfowl resting and nesting area would be maintained on a very important flyway. Several of the reservoirs would provide fishing and recreational areas which have considerable value. The estimated cost of all features of the proposed project is $2,959,000. A tentative allocation of the costs provides for an allocation of $718,590 to conservation and propagation of fish and wildlife, $134,880 to recreation, and $95,450 to flood control. The balance of the cost, $2,010,080, would be allocated to irrigation and would be repaid by the project water users in approximately 76 years. That period is considered to be well within the useful life of the project. Further detailed information with regard to this project is set forth in the Department of the Interior's report on the bill. Extracts from that report are set forth below: Water storage and distribution works in the area have been operated by organized local interests since 1888. Application of water to beneficial use has been effected, from time to time, on a total of some 15,300 acres of the lands owned by shareholders in the Maxwell Irrigation Co., which is the present operating organization in the area. However, loss of storage capacity due to sedimentation of reservoirs and damage to impounding structures, deterioration of canals and laterals of the distribution system, and obsolescence of control structures have progressed so far that, in recent years, only some 3,500 acres have been irrigated. In its present condition, the project is no longer self-sustaining, and the resources of local interests are insufficient for installation of necessary improvements. Farmers of the area are forced to supplement their incomes from agriculture by engaging in other business or off-farm employment. Continued existence of the project area as a social and economic unit depends upon the immediate institution of extensive and effective rehabilitation measures. Investigations conducted by the Bureau of Reclamation indicate that some 12,780 acres of the lands in the area are capable of sustained production under irrigation, but that provision of facilities to serve the whole of this acreage is infeasible at this time. It is proposed, therefore, to proceed immediately with rehabilitation and improvement of those portions of the existing project which are necessary to provide a dependable water supply for approximately 7,200 acres of irrigable land. This will be adequate to preserve the established economy of the community. Future extension of improvements to the full extent of available water and land resources can be undertaken as conditions warrant. The plan of rehabilitation proposed for immediate execution will afford benefits estimated to be $193,600 annually on the basis of 1939-44 prices. The cost of construction, including a small amount for fish and wildlife and recreation facilities, on the basis of November 1948 prices, is estimated at $2,959,000. The ratio of annual benefits to annual costs is estimated to be about 1.76 to 1 The construction costs allocated to irrigation, and therefore reimbursable and returnable to the United States by the project water users, have tentatively been determined to be $2,010,000. Analysis of the water users' repayment ability indicates that they will be able to meet total annual water charges of $6.30 per acre. Annual cost of operation and maintenance is estimated to be $2.61 per acre; thus $3.69 per acre will be annually available for payment of construction costs On this basis a period of about 76 years will be required for full repayment. A more complete discussion of the potential Vermejo project is contained in the report prepared by the Bureau of Reclamation entitled "Plan for Rehabilitation, Vermejo Project, Canadian River Basin, New Mexico, February 1949," which was approved and adopted as the proposed report of the Secretary of the Interior on April 1, 1949. A copy of that report is attached for your information. This proposed report has been sent, pursuant to the requirements of section 1 of the Flood Control Act of December 22, 1944. to the States of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, and to the Secretary of the Army for their comments. Favorable comments, copies attached, have been received from the States of New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. The committee has amended H. R. 3788 to provide for a nonreimbursable allocation to sediment control. Enactment of this legislation is unanimously recommended by the Committee on Public Lands. O CANCEL DRAINAGE CHARGES AGAINST CERTAIN LANDS WITHIN THE UINTAH INDIAN IRRIGATION PROJECT, UTAH JUNE 1, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mrs. BOSONE, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 4070] The Committee on Public Lands to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 4070) to cancel drainage charges against certain lands within the Uintah Indian irrigation project, Utah, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The EXPLANATION OF THE BILL purpose of this bill is to grant congressional approval to the Secretary of the Interior's order of October 15, 1943, canceling drainage charges against certain lands in the Uintah Indian irrigation project, Utah. The Uintah drainage project was authorized in 1936 in the hope of restoring the productivity of lands rendered useless by alkali encroachment and swamp conditions. Before construction was begun, nonIndian owners of land in the proposed drainage project were requested to sign contracts for the repayment of their proportionate share of the costs. Although non-Indian-owned land in the district amounts to 3,120.05 acres, the owners of only 2,007.85 acres signed repayment contracts. Of the balance, the landowners either neglected or refused to sign repayment contracts. Excavation of drain ditches was started in the spring of 1936 and continued through September 1937. The total length of drain ditches excavated was about 8.5 miles of the 26 miles originally planned, or about 33 percent of the project, but only one ditch, approximately 1 mile in length, was fully excavated to the planned depth of 8 to 10 feet. The cost of excavating approximately one-third of the project was $61,983.16, compared with the estimated cost of $70,000 to $80,000 H. Repts., 81-1, vol. 4- -6 |