§620d Upper Colorado River Basin Fund

Summary

Creates a special Treasury account called the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund to hold money for the Colorado River storage project and related participating projects. Money from congressional appropriations for this chapter (except section 620g) goes into the fund as advances. Money earned from running the storage project and participating projects also goes into the fund and can be used, without more approval, to pay operation, maintenance, replacements, and emergency costs. For each participating project, those operating costs must come from that project's own revenues. The fund’s revenues cannot be used to build the project units. Any fund money left after paying operating needs must be sent each year to the general fund of the Treasury to repay construction costs and related charges. Repayments must return costs allocated to power, municipal water, and irrigation within 50 years of a unit’s completion. Interest on the unpaid balance is paid first at a rate set by the Secretary of the Treasury. The fund also pays salinity control costs, fish and wildlife replacement, and certain on-farm measures under the cited sections. After these payments, remaining revenues are split among the Upper Division States: Colorado 46%, Utah 21.5%, Wyoming 15.5%, and New Mexico 17%. Revenues left from a specific participating project go first to the state where that project is located. Money given to a state may only be used to repay construction costs of participating projects in that state. Paonia and Eden projects follow special repayment rules in the Acts of June 25, 1947 (61 Stat. 181) and June 28, 1949 (63 Stat. 277). The Secretary sets the interest rate at the start of the fiscal year when construction begins, using Treasury marketable obligations that are not due or callable for 15 years. Annual business-style budgets for all Basin Fund operations must be sent to Congress.