105 STAT. 1722 PUBLIC LAW 102-231—DEC. 12, 1991 Public Law 102-231 102d Congress An Act Dec. 12, 1991 To provide for the divestiture of certain properties of the San Carlos Indian Irrigation [H.R. 1476] Project in the State of Arizona, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the San Carlos United States of America in Congress assembled, Indian Irrigation Project SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. Act of 1991. This Act may be cited as the "San Carlos Indian Irrigation Project Energy. Divestiture Act of 1991". SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) FINDINGS. —The Congress finds the following: (1) To provide water for irrigating, first, land allotted to Pima Indians on the Gila River Reservation and, second, other lands in public or private ownership which, in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior, could be served without diminishing the supply necessary for the Indian lands. Congress, by the Act of June 7, 1924, authorized construction of Coolidge Dam and creation of San Carlos Reservoir on the Gila River in Arizona. (2) The Secretary, through the San Carlos Irrigation Project administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, operates Coolidge Dam and approximately one hundred irrigation wells to provide water to SCIP lands on the Gila River Reservation and to the SCIP lands outside the reservation which is within the San Carlos Irrigation and Drainage District. (3) A hydroelectric power system was developed at Coolidge Dam pursuant to the Act of March 7, 1928, as amended, to generate power incidental to the use of San Carlos Reservoir for storing irrigation water. The system's primary purpose was to provide power for irrigation pumping on SCIP lands and for BIA agency and school purposes and for irrigation pumping by Apache Indians on the San Carlos Reservation. (4) SCIP's transmission and distribution system, which has been extended to domestic and commercied users on SCIP lands and to other homes and businesses not on SCIP lands, currently provides service within portions of Pinal, Pima, Maricopa, Graham, and Gila Counties covering approximately 3,000 square miles. (5) Unexpectedly low and erratic Gila River flows into San Carlos Reservoir since 1928 have limited power generation at Coolidge Dam, causing SCIP to secure additional power through contracts with the Western Area Power Administration, the Salt River Project, and Arizona Public Service Company to meet its customers' needs. Since October 1983, when a flood damaged the switchyard at Coolidge Dam, no power has been generated at the dam. (6) Much of SCIP's power system needs modernization, with some facilities over sixty years old, well past their design life. However, Federal budgetary and administrative policies have
�
