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Central Arizona Project: Costs and Benefits of Acquiring the Harquahala Water Entitlement

RCED-95-102 Published: Jun 05, 1995. Publicly Released: Jul 05, 1995.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on how the Harquahala Valley Irrigation District became a source of water for the Fort McDowell Indian Community, focusing on the: (1) federal government's costs to acquire the water; (2) benefits accrued to the parties involved in the acquisition; and (3) status of Department of Agriculture loans made to Harquahala landowners.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Interior To ensure complete estimates of federal costs of future Indian water rights settlements that use Bureau of Reclamation project water, the Secretary of the Interior and the Directors of the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget should develop methodologies to ensure that all the known costs associated with any federal contribution of water are included in the estimates provided to Congress.
Closed – Implemented
Departmental spokesperson informed GAO that the department considers the Memorandum issued on September 24, 1996 to all Indian Water Rights Settlement Negotiators, when read in conjunction with Federal Register Notice 55FR9223 dated March 12, 1990, to be responsive action for both recommendations. She particularly emphasized criteria 12 in that document.
Office of Management and Budget To ensure complete estimates of federal costs of future Indian water rights settlements that use Bureau of Reclamation project water, the Secretary of the Interior and the Directors of the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget should develop methodologies to ensure that all the known costs associated with any federal contribution of water are included in the estimates provided to Congress.
Closed – Implemented
According to the OMB Action Officer, the only action taken was to alert co-workers by telephone of the need to ensure that all known federal costs associated with Indian water rights settlements are included in the estimates provided to Congress. He believes this action was sufficient since there has been only one water rights settlement case during the current Administration.
Congressional Budget Office To ensure complete estimates of federal costs of future Indian water rights settlements that use Bureau of Reclamation project water, the Secretary of the Interior and the Directors of the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget should develop methodologies to ensure that all the known costs associated with any federal contribution of water are included in the estimates provided to Congress.
Closed – Implemented
CBO did not develop written methodologies to address this recommendation because the cases that fit the criteria are not standard but unique. The Action Officer, however, said that CBO has adopted the spirit of the recommendation in that, by virtue of the GAO report, it now considers both long- and short-term costs associated with water projects.
Department of the Interior Because of the common link between land and water rights in Harquahala-type acquisitions and the need to ensure that the federal government's overall interests are protected in future Indian water rights settlements, the Secretary of the Interior should identify other federal agencies' interests in these settlements and act to protect these interests in the negotiations.
Closed – Implemented
Departmental spokesperson informed GAO that the department considers the Memorandum issued on September 24, 1996 to all Indian Water Rights Settlement Negotiators, when read in conjunction with Federal Register Notice 55FR9223 dated March 12, 1990, to be responsive action for both recommendations. She particularly emphasized criteria 12 in that document.

Full Report

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Topics

Claims settlementConstruction costsContract costsDelinquent loansFarm creditFederal procurementIndian affairs legislationWater resources developmentWater rightsWater supply management