Claim for Costs of Engineering Studies

Kittitas Reclamation District (KRD), Yakima Project, Washington, submitted a claim for the total cost of engineering studies and related administrative expenses incurred as a result of work performed by a private engineering firm. KRD contended that it incurred these expensed because of a Bureau of Reclamation forecast that the 1977 irrigation season would be characterized by drought conditions. The Bureau has no authority to pay the claim for the expenses. Under the applicable reclamation law the Bureau may undertake such projects only where the irrigation district enters into a repayment contract with the Bureau, but it may not make a grant of such money. Further, in contracting for these studies, KRD was acting on its own behalf and not as the Bureau's agent. Accordingly, the claim was denied.