| The
Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission is an Executive
branch agency of the federal government. The Commission was authorized
under the Central Utah Project Completion Act
of 1992. The Act set terms and conditions for completing the Central Utah Project, which diverts stores
and delivers large quantities of water from numerous Utah rivers to meet
the needs of central Utah's citizens.
In addition to meeting Utah's growing demand for
water, a major impetus for passage of CUPCA was awareness that prior
efforts to mitigate or offset loss of natural resource values lagged far
behind construction of CUP water development features or were inadequate
when measured against modern environmental standards. The Mitigation
Commission is therefore responsible for designing, funding and
implementing projects to offset the impacts to fish, wildlife and
related recreation resources caused by CUP and other federal reclamation
projects in Utah.
Many mitigation projects require completing
efforts initially administered by the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation and
Department of the Interior, now two of the Commission's most important
partners. Other mitigation projects are new mandates included in CUPCA
as a condition of CUP completion. The Act requires the Commission to
implement these mitigation responsibilities concurrently with completing
CUP water development features.
The Commission was established in late 1994 and
early 1995. It consists of five commissioners, appointed by the
President, and approximately a dozen staff headquartered in Salt Lake
City, Utah. Under the Commission's umbrella authority, other federal
and Utah state agencies, local governments, universities, non-profit
organizations, and the Ute tribe cooperate through agreements with the
Commission to implement of a wide variety of ecosystem restoration and
wildlife conservation projects in Utah.
Annual funding for Commission projects depends on amounts
congressionally appropriated through the Secretary of the Interior as part of the
Department of the Interior's Central Utah Project Completion program.
Contingency Plan for Operations in the Absence of Appropriations
This summary document provides an update on our planning
for a potential lapse in appropriations. Prudent management
requires we continue to prepare for all contingencies, including the
possibility of a lapse occurring. In a possible scenario where Congress
fails to enact full year appropriations or to fund the government via a
continuing resolution, the Commission will execute its contingency plan.
|
