A REPORT ON THE CROOKED RIVER PROJECT, OREGON, APRIL 25, 1956.-Referred to the Committee on Interior and Insular GIANNINI FOUNDATION CONTENTS Letter from the Secretary of the Interior to the Speaker of the House, Letter from the Assistant Director of the Budget to the Secretary of the Report to the regional director, Bureau of Reclamation, February 12, 1953, xvi Comments, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, August 29, 1955- Comments, Department of Labor, August 10, 1955_. 153 II MY DEAR MR. SPEAKER: My report on the Crooked River project, Oregon, is transmitted herewith pursuant to the provisions of section 9 (a) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1187). This project, in the general vicinity of Prineville, Oreg., would be essentially an extension and addition to the works of the Ochoco Irrigation District. The physical works provided would be Prineville Dam and Reservoir with associated diversion dam, canals, pumping plant and distribution facilities. They would provide an adequate irrigation water supply for approximately 20,210 acres of land, 9,990 acres which are now dry and 10,220 acres which currently receive insufficient water. In addition, Prineville Reservoir would provide 51,200 acre-feet of irrigation water annually for future use in the area. Flood control, drainage, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits would result from the project. The estimated cost of the proposed Crooked River project, based on October 1954 prices, which are slightly below current price levels, is $6,598,000. This cost is tentatively allocated $5,903,000 to irrigation, $653,000 to flood control, $29,000 to fish and wildlife, and $13,000 to recreation. The report proposes that the costs allocated to irrigation be returned jointly by the water users and from surplus power revenues of The Dalles project on the Columbia River now under construction by the Corps of Engineers. Studies indicate that within a 50-year period the water users can probably repay $2,299,000, leaving $3,604,000 to be repaid from surplus power revenues. The Bureau of the Budget, in its comments on the report, suggests that until such time as questions relating to the establishment of a basin account for providing financial assistance to irrigation in the Columbia River Basin are resolved, it would be preferable to recommend that the $3,604,000 of financial aid required for the Crooked River project be borne by the Federal Government as a contribution to irrigation. Copies of the proposed report of this Department were transmitted to the States of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming and to the Secretary of the Army for views and recommendations in accordance with section 1 of the Flood Control Act of December 22, 1944 (58 Stat. 887), and to the agencies represented on the Interagency Committee on Water Resources for information |