The $2,171,000 balance for the Ochoco Irrigation District lands and the $1,433,000 balance for the north unit lands, which are beyond the repayment ability of the respective water users, could be repaid by utilizing net surplus power revenues from one of the Federal dams on the Columbia River under provisions similar to those applicable to the Foster Creek division, Chief Joseph irrigation project, as authorized by act of July 27, 1954 (68 Stat. 568). It is estimated that it would take only about 123 days (74 days for the district lands and 49 days for the nonproject lands) for the net surplus power revenues of The Dalles project to repay these costs. With this aid all project costs allocated to the Ochoco Irrigation District lands would be repaid within a 50-year period. Also, the costs allocated to lands to utilize the excess project water could be returned in 50 years after such water is put to beneficial use. I recommend, therefore, that the Crooked River project be authorized on the basis that net surplus power revenues from The Dalles project of the Corps of Engineers be utilized to return the reimbursable costs beyond the water users' ability to repay. I concur in and adopt the findings and recommendations of the regional director as set forth in paragraph 45 of his report and as modified or extended by this letter. I recommend that you approve and adopt this report as your proposed report on the Crooked River project and that you authorize me, in your behalf, to transmit copies to the States of the Columbia River Basin and to the Secretary of the Army in accordance with requirements of the Flood Control Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 887), to the State of Oregon for the views and recommendations of the head of the agency exercising administration over the wildlife resources of the State in accordance with provisions of the act of August 14, 1946 (60 Stat. 1080), and to other interested Federal agencies for their comments. Sincerely yours, W. A. DEXHEIMER, Commissioner. Approved and adopted May 5, 1955. Secretary of the Interior. 1 Recent cost estimates based on October 1954 prices. All unamortized costs of Federal installation at Cove powerplant now charged to Crooked River project rather than divided between project and north unit of Deschutes project. Cost of flume crossing pumping plant is not a project cost but is representative of cost necessary to utilize water provided by Prineville storage excess to needs of Crooked River project. 2 Separable cost-remaining benefits method used in deriving current allocations of cost. Allocation to lands which will use excess water does not include $777,000 cost of flume crossing pumping plant. The amount for district lands include operation, maintenance, and replacement costs for existing facilities. 4 Project operation, maintenance, and replacement only. An additional $37,300 to cover operation, maintenance, and replacement for flume crossing pumping plant must be added in determining repayment capacity of north unit lands. In regional director's report an amount of $500 for fish and wildlife operation, maintenance, and replacement included in the irrigation amount. Payment capacity necessary to cover cost of the authorized Haystack equalizing reservoir of the north unit has been deducted from the amount in the regional director's report. REPORT OF THE REGIONAL DIRECTOR FEBRUARY 12, 1953. To: Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation. TRANSMITTAL 1. This is my report on the Crooked River project, Oregon. It is accompanied by a substantiating report in which you will find detailed discussions and data covering each aspect of the plan, along with pertinent reports and letters of all other interested agencies of the Department of the Interior and the Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers. 2. Development of the proposed plan will provide a stable irrigation water supply for 9,990 acres of dry land, and 10,220 acres of land now inadequately irrigated near the town of Prineville, Oreg.; 51,200 acrefeet of water for use as a supplemental or full supply on other lands of the Deschutes Basin; flood protection; drainage works; recreational facilities and opportunities for increasing the present fishery resource. Power-generating facilities are not planned, because there would be no dependable power water available during the nonirrigation season. 3. The plan presented in the report is feasible from an engineering standpoint. Benefits exceed the associated costs to the Nation by a ratio of 2.15 to 1. Full recovery of the construction costs assigned to the Crooked River project, based on the April 1952 price level, are in prospect in a period of 95 years. 4. There is a great deal of local interest in securing additional irrigation water and protection from spring floods. Although there is some local difference of opinion as to which of the Crooked River sites should be utilized, there is a unanimous recognition of the need for increased storage capacity on the Crooked River and early development of a project plan. AUTHORITY 5. This report is authorized to be made by virtue of the Federal reclamation laws (act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 338, and acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto). ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 6. The Bureau of Reclamation has received the cooperation and assistance of many Federal, State, and county agencies, as well as many local organizations and individuals in preparing this report. Information from all these sources has been used wherever appropri ate, and is gratefully acknowledged. The Fish and Wildlife and National Park Services, Department of the Interior, prepared the basic information on the fishery and recreational aspects of the proposed plan. The Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, reported on the flood problems and flood-control benefits. The Oregon State Highway Department furnished the surveys and estimates on which the highway relocation plans in the reservoir area are based. The board of directors and manager of the Ochoco Irrigation District, together with Crook County officials, the county agricultural agent, and staff members of Oregon State College furnished invaluable assistance on many phases of the adopted plan. GENERAL 7. Crooked River project is located in Crook County of central Oregon and utilizes the water resource of Ochoco Creek and the Crooked River from which the project acquires its name. It is an important part of a larger area known as the Deschutes River Basin. 8. Crook County has a population of about 9,000 persons, nearly one-third of whom reside in the town of Prineville, Oreg., which was founded in 1868. Population of the project area more than doubled during the period 1920-52, with the bulk of the increase following the opening of Ochoco National Forest to logging operations in 1939. 9. Diversion of water from Crooked River for irrigation was undertaken as early as 1866. In 1905, plans were made to irrigate 40,000 acres in Ochoco Valley. Ochoco Irrigation District was organized in 1916 to build a dam on Ochoco Creek, with distribution works to irrigate 22,000 acres, and the project was constructed in 1917 and 1918. Insufficient water supply led to financial difficulties, culminating in a loan from the Reconstruction Finance Corporation in 1933. Ünder terms of the loan, the assessed area of the district was reduced to 8,500 acres. 10. The hazardous condition of Ochoco Dam, an earth-filled structure lying immediately upstream from the town of Prineville, became increasingly serious year by year until, in 1948, the Bureau of Reclamation was requested to take immediate steps to assist the district in rehabilitating the structure. Congressional approval and appropriations were provided, enabling the Bureau to make the necessary repairs in 1949. A repayment contract for return of $500,000 of the rehabilitation cost was signed by the district and the dam is now in full operation. 11. The present economy of the project area depends upon lumbering and agriculture, based largely upon livestock production. Four lumber mills are operated in Prineville since the Ochoco National Forest was opened to logging on a sustained-yield basis. A meatpacking company supplies much of central Oregon, and a local creamery, plus another at nearby Bend, Oreg., provide outlets for dairy products. About 1920 the town of Prineville constructed a municipal railroad 19 miles to a junction with the Union Pacific system. Highway U. S. 28 provides easy access to cities in Oregon, Washington, and California, and several State and county roads serve the project The Pacific Power & Light Co. furnishes electric power from Redmond, Oreg. In addition to county buildings, Prineville has area. 76417-56 several churches, a new consolidated grade school, and a county union high school. Reports of the State treasurer of Oregon reveal no indebtedness for Crook County on July 1, 1950. The net indebtedness of the county school districts is $688,000. Indebtedness is low in relation to the taxable resources of the districts. 12. The semiarid climate of the region restricts land use, without irrigation, to the production of grain and dry-land grasses. Precipitation is light, evaporation rapid, humidity low, and temperature widely variable. The average frost-free period is about 103 days. With irrigation, crops of alfalfa, late potatoes, alsike clover seed, grass and legume pastures have been successfully grown for many years. A few farmers have had satisfactory, although relatively shorttime, experience growing such irrigated crops as hops, peppermint for oil, berry plants, and truck crops. AREA NEEDS 13. Capacity of Ochoco Reservoir is adequate to regulate the stream, although the runoff of Ochoco Creek is insufficient in many years to provide a full water supply to the 8,500 acres of district land. The reservoir has filled only seven times since it was built. The water supply of the five private ditch companies within the project boundaries is inadequate except during the spring runoff and during occasional wet years. Without increased storage on Crooked River there is no possibility of developing presently dry lands or even stabilizing a full supply for presently irrigated lands. 14. Water is a critical resource in the central Oregon area. Potential water requirements unquestionably exceed future available supplies. Maximum water-resource development must, therefore, be an imperative objective of any plan for utilization of any stream in the Deschutes Basin. 15. Bottom-land farms, as well as industrial, commercial, and residential property along Ochoco Creek and the Crooked River, in and near Prineville, are subject to damaging spring floods which are fed by rapid runoff of the heavy snow cover. 16. There is also need for part-time farming opportunities for workers employed in local industries such as lumbering. Present inadequate water supplies preclude the use of many small tracts for this purpose. LOCAL INTEREST 17. There is a widespread recognition among local landowners and businessmen of the need for supplementing the presently inadequate irrigation water supply on the Crooked River lands and of securing additional water for development of presently dry lands. The former have agreed on a need for the project and have expressed a willingness to pay reasonable charges. The development of the project would provide agricultural opportunities needed to permit normal expansion of the economy of central Oregon. It would also tend to keep agriculture in balance with the rapid industrial development which is occurring in the Pacific Northwest. Because there are two possible reservoir sites, and selection of either site will cause disruption of the existing local economy in the immediate vicinity of the reservoir, persons adversely affected will understandably voice a pref |