Resource Management Construction

What this funds

This program provides management, oversight, and engineering technical assistance to the irrigation projects under IA's jurisdiction. The program addresses deferred maintenance needs at 17 congressionally authorized irrigation projects. These 17 irrigation projects are located on Indian reservations across the Rocky Mountain, Northwest, Southwest, Navajo and Western Regions. IA also has irrigation systems in its inventory which are non-revenue-generating that are mainly used for subsistence gardening. Indian irrigation projects provide water vital to agricultural production in the western United States. Serving over 25,000 customers in 10 western States, irrigation projects provide irrigation water to over 800,000 acres through over 52,000 structures and 6,000 miles of canals and drains. The IA owns, operates, and maintains the projects, providing the manpower, materials, and equipment to operate and maintain these projects. The current water users on IA projects include the Tribes, individual Indian landowners, non-Indian landowners, and Indian and non-Indian lessees of Indian lands. The mix of fee and trust lands, along with the delivery of Indian and non-Indian water rights to both Indian and non-Indian customers, makes IA irrigation different from most other irrigation projects. The funds support the following: Navajo Indian Irrigation Project: This program funds construction and deferred maintenance rehabilitation of the Navajo Indian Irrigation Project (NIIP). All work is accomplished by IA staff through a reimbursable agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation or a Pub.L. 93-638 contract with the Navajo Nation. The construction of the NIIP is authorized under Pub.L. 87-483, as amended (Pub.L. 111-11), for the purposes of delivering water for the irrigation of irrigable and arable lands. The legislation authorized the Secretary of the Interior to construct, operate, and maintain the NIIP for the principal purpose of furnishing irrigation water for up to 110,630 acres of land. The NIIP design is comprised of 11 blocks; with each block delivering water to approximately 10,000 acres. Construction of the project began in 1964. Currently, the irrigation delivery system can deliver water to approximately 80,488 acres, through eight completed blocks and a portion of block 9. Irrigation Projects-Rehabilitation: The irrigation rehabilitation program addresses critical deferred maintenance, construction work and emergency failures on IA owned and operated irrigation facilities, with an emphasis placed on infrastructure rehabilitation that addresses health and safety concerns for IA employees and the public. Projects are prioritized in accordance with the Department and IA Asset Management Plan, the rehabilitation priority index (RPI), FCI, Asset Priority Index (API), and considers the risk associated with the loss of water delivery to all or a portion of the irrigation facility. Modernization Study results are incorporated into all rehabilitation projects to improve resource utilization and water delivery service as most facilities are reaching 100 years old.

Extracted from Bureau of Indian Affairs, p. 105. Verbatim; nothing here is paraphrased.

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