2003 US Code
Title 43 - PUBLIC LANDS
CHAPTER 12B - COLORADO RIVER STORAGE PROJECT
Sec. 620 - Upper Colorado River Basin; purpose of development of water resources; initial units; construction of Wayne N. Aspinall unit contingent upon certification; participating projects; Rainbow Bridge National Monument

In order to initiate the comprehensive development of the water resources of the Upper Colorado River Basin, for the purposes, among others, of regulating the flow of the Colorado River, storing water for beneficial consumptive use, making it possible for the States of the Upper Basin to utilize, consistently with the provisions of the Colorado River Compact, the apportionments made to and among them in the Colorado River Compact and the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, respectively, providing for the reclamation of arid and semiarid land, for the control of floods, and for the generation of hydroelectric power, as an incident of the foregoing purposes, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized (1) to construct, operate, and maintain the following initial units of the Colorado River storage project, consisting of dams, reservoirs, powerplants, transmission facilities and appurtenant works: Wayne N. Aspinall, Flaming Gorge, Navajo (dam and reservoir only), and Glen Canyon: Provided, That the Wayne N. Aspinall Dam shall be constructed to a height which will impound not less than nine hundred and forty thousand acre-feet of water or will create a reservoir of such greater capacity as can be obtained by a high waterline located at seven thousand five hundred and twenty feet above mean sea level, and that construction thereof shall not be undertaken until the Secretary has, on the basis of further engineering and economic investigations, reexamined the economic justification of such unit and, accompanied by appropriate documentation in the form of a supplemental report, has certified to the Congress and to the President that, in his judgment, the benefits of such unit will exceed its costs; and (2) to construct, operate, and maintain the following additional reclamation projects (including power-generating and transmission facilities related thereto), hereinafter referred to as participating projects: Central Utah (initial phase and the Uintah unit), San Juan-Chama (initial stage), Emery County, Florida, Hammond, La Barge, Lyman, Navajo Indian, Paonia (including the Minnesota unit, a dam and reservoir on Muddy Creek just above its confluence with the North Fork of the Gunnison River, and other necessary works), Animas-La Plata, Dolores, Dallas Creek, West Divide, San Miguel, Seedskadee, Savery-Pot Hook, Bostwick Park, Fruitland Mesa, Silt and Smith Fork: Provided further, That as part of the Glen Canyon Unit the Secretary of the Interior shall take adequate protective measures to preclude impairment of the Rainbow Bridge National Monument.

(Apr. 11, 1956, ch. 203, §1, 70 Stat. 105; Pub. L. 87–483, §18, June 13, 1962, 76 Stat. 102; Pub. L. 88–568, §1, Sept. 2, 1964, 78 Stat. 852; Pub. L. 90–537, title V, §501(a), Sept. 30, 1968, 82 Stat. 896; Pub. L. 96–375, §7, Oct. 3, 1980, 94 Stat. 1507; Pub. L. 96–470, title I, §108(c), Oct. 19, 1980, 94 Stat. 2239.)

The provisions of subsec. (a) of section 501 of Pub. L. 90–537 which amended this section are only a part of said subsec. (a). The remainder of said subsec. (a) amended section 620a of this title and enacted provisions set out as notes under this section and section 620k of this title.

1980—Pub. L. 96–470 struck out proviso that construction of Uintah unit of Central Utah project not be undertaken by the Secretary until he has completed a feasibility report on such unit and submitted it to Congress, along with his certification that, in his judgment, the benefits of such unit or segment will exceed the cost and that such unit is physically and financially feasible, and that the Congress has authorized appropriations for construction thereof.

Pub. L. 96–375 substituted “Wayne N. Aspinall” for “Curecanti”.

1968—Pub. L. 90–537 added Uintah unit to initial phase in Central Utah project, substituted “Animas-La Plata, Dolores, Dallas Creek, West Divide, San Miguel” for “Pine River Extension”, and inserted proviso prohibiting construction of Uintah unit of Central Utah project until a feasibility study is made, a determination is made that its benefits will exceed its costs and an authorization for appropriations is made by Congress.

1964—Pub. L. 88–568 included Savery-Pot Hook, Bostwick Park, and Fruitland Mesa as participating projects.

1962—Pub. L. 87–483 included San Juan-Chama (initial stage) and Navajo Indian as participating projects in cl. (2).

Act Apr. 11, 1956, which enacted this chapter, is popularly known as the “Colorado River Storage Project Act”.

Section 501(a) of Pub. L. 90–537 provided that the amendment of this section and section 620a of this title by such section 501(a) were made in order to provide for the construction, operation, and maintenance of the Animas-La Plata Federal reclamation project, Colorado-New Mexico; the Dolores, Dallas Creek, West Divide, and San Miguel Federal reclamation projects, Colorado; and the Central Utah project (Uintah Unit), Utah, as participating projects under the Colorado River Storage Project Act, and to provide for the completion of planning reports on other participating projects.

This section is referred to in sections 620b, 620c, 1595 of this title.