98-2160. Office of the Assistant SecretaryWater and Science; Central Utah Project Completion Act

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 19 (Thursday, January 29, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 4463]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-2160]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR


Office of the Assistant Secretary--Water and Science; Central 
Utah Project Completion Act

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary--Water and Science, 
Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to negotiate a contract between the Strawberry 
Water Users Association (SWUA) and the Department of the Interior for 
the conversion of a portion of Strawberry Valley Project (SVP) water 
from irrigation to municipal and industrial (M&I) use.

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SUMMARY: The SVP, authorized December 15, 1905, is one of the earliest 
Reclamation Projects. The SVP stores water from the Colorado River 
Basin in the Strawberry Reservoir. The stored water is then conveyed 
through the Syar Tunnel/Sixth Water Aqueduct into the Great Basin where 
it is delivered through natural stream courses to a Spanish Fork River 
diversion structure and into the Strawberry Service Canal. The SVP 
service area is located in south Utah County, Utah. The SWUA has 
operational responsibilities for the SVP and contractually uses Central 
Utah Project (CUP) facilities to store and convey SVP water.
    Suburban development in the SVP service area has resulted in 
agricultural land being taken out of production, annexed into the 
cities, and developed into residential areas. Under the authority of 
the Water for Miscellaneous Purposes Act of 1920 (43 U.S.C. 521), the 
Secretary of Interior has authority to approve converting a portion of 
the SVP water from irrigation to M&I use. This conversion will: (1) 
Allow the SWUA to provide M&I water to the cities in south Utah County 
; (2) ensure the orderly marketing of CUP and SVP M&I water; (3) 
provide an adequate water supply to the cities; (4) generate revenue to 
fund the rehabilitation of SVP facilities; and (5) eliminate 
unauthorized use of SVP water within the service area. Of the total SVP 
annual average water supply of about 71,000 acre-feet, 7,000 to 8,000 
acre-feet of SVP water presently appurtenant to non-agricultural lands 
will be converted from irrigation to M&I use in the near future with 
the opportunity to gradually convert additional amounts as growth 
continues in the area.
    The negotiation process will define the terms and conditions 
whereby the conversion of SVP water from irrigation to M&I use will be 
allowed.

DATES: Dates for public negotiation sessions will be announced in local 
newspapers.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Additional information on matters related to 
this Federal Register notice can be obtained at the address and 
telephone number set forth below:

Mr. Reed Murray, Program Coordinator, CUP Completion Act Office, 
Department of the Interior, 302 East 1860 South, Provo UT 84606-6154, 
Telephone: [phone], E-Mail address: [e-mail]

    Dated: January 23, 1998.
Ronald Johnston,
CUP Program Director, Department of the Interior.
[FR Doc. 98-2160 Filed 1-28-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-RK-P