News Release Archive

Reclamation releases draft results on the Central Valley Project Cost Allocation Study

Media Contact: Erin Curtis, 916-978-5100, eccurtis@usbr.gov

For Release: October 27, 2017

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Bureau of Reclamation’s Mid-Pacific Region today released draft preliminary results for the Central Valley Project Cost Allocation Study.

The study is looking at how costs to repay the construction of the Central Valley Project are being allocated among the beneficiaries. The allocations were last updated in 1975, and several regulatory, legal and ecological changes have occurred in the last 40 years, necessitating a re-look. By law, the costs for repayment of the CVP are distributed across its seven congressionally authorized purposes: water supply, flood control, navigation, power, fish and wildlife, recreation, and water quality.

“The release of the draft preliminary results today marks a pivotal moment,” said MP Region Assistant Regional Director Travis Aberle. “We are establishing a path forward for updating the amount of project costs each project beneficiary will repay no later than the legislatively mandated deadline of 2030.”

The aggregate draft results released today are broken down to each specific authorized project purpose. The numbers reflect overall adjustments and may increase or decrease as the study and implementation progress. A full draft study will be released in the next several weeks for review and comment from stakeholders and contractors. Once a final study is released, Reclamation will begin the implementation phase to set rates in order to give beneficiaries time to plan repayment of construction costs as appropriate by 2030.

Reclamation began the process to develop a new cost allocation for the CVP in 2010. The cost obligation for each authorized purpose is being determined and will be the basis for repayment requirements for irrigation contractors, municipal and industrial contractors, and commercial power contractors. Reclamation is leading the study in coordination with other federal organizations including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Western Area Power Administration.

The draft results document is titled CVP Cost Allocation Study Methodology and Preliminary Results and may be accessed on the project website at: http://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvp/cvp-cost-allocation.html.

For questions, please contact Michael Mosley at 916-978-5119 or mmosley@usbr.gov. For additional information and/or to be added to the email group, please contact Lisa Navarro at 916-978-5111 or lnavarro@usbr.gov. For information on the study, please visit the project website listed above.

# # #

The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.