§390ee Pricing

Summary

Irrigation water must be sold at full cost to certain large landowners. Full cost (as defined elsewhere) must be charged when a qualified recipient has more than 960 acres of class I land (or the same amount in other land types), when a limited recipient has more than 320 acres of class I land and was getting water on or before October 1, 1981, and when a limited recipient did not get water on or before October 1, 1981 for their entire holding. The interest rate used to figure full cost will be set by the Treasury Secretary. That rate is the average of two numbers: the average interest on Treasury marketable bonds with 15 years until they mature and a weighted average of yields on Treasury marketable issues sold in the fiscal year before the spending (or October 12, 1982 for spending before that date). Smaller landholdings get water under the pricing rules that were in effect right before October 12, 1982, or under the old terms of an amended contract. The part of the price for operation and maintenance must follow section 390hh. Lands under recordable contracts can get water for less than full cost only for a limited time: up to 10 years for contracts that existed before October 12, 1982, up to 5 years for contracts made after that date, or for the time set in section 390rr. In no case can that reduced-price right end sooner than 18 months after the Secretary restarts work on or approval of the land’s disposition.