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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Pinto

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2-11-06

HB

SHORT TITLE Upper Fruitland Irrigation Project Funding

SB SJM71

ANALYST Woods

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY06

FY07

NFI

NFI

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

SUMMARY

Synopsis of SJM 71

Senate Joint Memorial 71 requests that the New Mexico congressional delegation to fully find

the costs of renovation of the Upper Fruitland Irrigation Project. There is no appropriation at-

tached to this legislation.

Specifically the memorial notes that:

•

the Upper Fruitland irrigation project was built in 1933 and subsequent years

as part of the works project administration program and runs along the south

side of the San Juan river close to the Nenahnezad area; and

•

the irrigable acreage of the Upper Fruitland irrigation project is three thousand

six hundred seventy-five acres that was divided into small tracts for the tribal

members living in the vicinity to make beneficial use of the land; and

•

approximately four hundred families were served by the project when it was

completed; and

•

the Bureau of Indian affairs of the Department of the Interior had been re-

sponsible for funding the operation and maintenance of the Upper Fruitland ir-

rigation project until the responsibility for funding the operation and mainte-

Senate Joint Memorial 71 – Page

2

nance of the Upper Fruitland irrigation project was transferred to the Navajo

Nation; and

•

approximately five hundred acres remain under cultivation by the original pro-

ject, and between 1959 and the late 1990s, seepage from the main irrigation

ditch was stemmed by lining it with concrete and later adding a siphon to pre-

vent excessive evaporation, also major renovation of the head gate at the point

of diversion from the San Juan river through federal and Navajo Nation ap-

propriations; and

•

the Navajo Nation has not been able to keep up with the funding of the exten-

sive maintenance needed on the Upper Fruitland irrigation secondary irriga-

tion system, which is in need of capital improvement funds to continue deliv-

ering water to the fields of the Navajo families who still rely on the crops they

grow to provide or supplement their family incomes; and

•

the Upper Fruitland irrigation project will be a beneficiary of the San Juan

river court settlement once it is adopted by congress, at which time some addi-

tional money will be available for the maintenance and operation of the pro-

ject when the settlement is eventually acted upon, but repairs are needed now.

The memorial resolves that the New Mexico congressional delegation be requested to work with

the Shiprock irrigation operations and maintenance office of the department of water resources in

the division of natural resources of the Navajo Nation and obtain a congressional appropriation

for one million dollars ($1,000,000) to upgrade and repair the secondary irrigation system of the

Upper Fruitland irrigation project; and

The memorial further resolves that copies of this memorial be transmitted to all members of the

New Mexico congressional delegation, to the president of the Navajo Nation, to the San Juan

water users, incorporated, and to the Shiprock irrigation operations and management office of the

department of water resources of the division of natural resources of the Navajo Nation.

BW/mt