§620d Upper Colorado River Basin Fund

Summary

Creates a separate Treasury account called the Upper Colorado River Basin Fund and keeps it open until the money is used. Money that Congress gives for these projects goes into this fund as advances from the general Treasury. All receipts from running the Colorado River storage project and related projects also go into the fund. That money can be used without new approval to run, maintain, replace parts of, and pay for emergencies of those projects, but it cannot be used to build new units. Any money left over after operating needs is paid each year back to the Treasury to repay construction costs that are charged to power, municipal water, and irrigation—each within up to 50 years after a unit is finished—and to pay required interest first. The fund also covers costs for salinity control, replacing lost fish and wildlife values, and certain on-farm measures as the law requires. After those needs are met, remaining revenues are split among the Upper Division States: Colorado 46%, Utah 21.5%, Wyoming 15.5%, and New Mexico 17%. First, money left from each participating project goes to the state where that project is located. A state’s share must be used only to repay projects in that state unless the state agrees otherwise. Annual repayments to the Treasury for irrigation shares and special cases follow the usual 50‑year rule, with special rules for Paonia and Eden under the Acts of June 25, 1947, and June 28, 1949. The Treasury Secretary sets the interest rate at the start of the fiscal year when construction starts, based on Treasury marketable securities that are not due or callable for 15 years. Each year a business-type budget for operations paid from the Basin Fund must be sent to Congress.