The Central Utah Project is a US federal water project that was authorized for construction under the Colorado River Storage Project Act of April 11, 1956, as a participating project. In general, the Central Utah Project develops a portion of Utah's share of the yield of the Colorado River, as set out in the Colorado River Compact of 1922.
The Central Utah Project was authorized under the Colorado River Storage Project Act (CRSPA) (Public Law 84-485) on April 11, 1956, as a participating project of the Colorado River Storage Project to help meet Utah's long-term water needs.
As originally planned and authorized, the Central Utah Project consisted of six units or sub-projects: the Bonneville Unit, the Jensen Unit, the Vernal Unit, the Uinta Unit, the Upalco Unit, and Ute Indian Unit. The largest and most complex is the Bonneville Unit, which diverts water from the Uinta Basin, a part of the Colorado River Basin, to the Lake Bonneville Basin. The other units were designed to provide for development of local water supplies in the Uinta Basin.
The Central Utah Project develops water for irrigation, municipal, and industrial use; stream flows; and power generation. The project also provides recreation, fish and wildlife, flood control, water conservation, and water quality benefits.
Construction progress on the Central Utah Project proceeded slowly because of: the complexity of the project; complex environmental analyses; and inadequate and sporadic Federal funding. The slow progress prompted state and local officials to ask Congress to empower the Central Utah Water Conservancy District to complete the planning and construction of the remaining portion of the CUP, specifically the Bonneville Unit.
Central Utah Project Completion Act
The Central Utah Project Completion Act (CUPCA) enacted on October 30, 1992, removed responsibility for completing the Central Utah Project, a federal water project, from the United States Bureau of Reclamation. For the first time in history, Congress designated a local entity (the Central Utah Water Conservancy District) as the planning and construction entity for a major Federal water project.
Construction progress on the Bonneville Unit has been slow because of the complexity of the project, the need for environmental analyses required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and inadequate federal funding. By the early 1990s, the slow progress prompted state and local officials to ask Congress to empower the Central Utah Water Conservancy District to complete the planning and the construction of the remaining portions of the Central Utah Project, including the Bonneville Unit. The Central Utah Water Conservancy District is a water conservancy district organized under the laws of the State of Utah, representing local water users in a ten-county district.
Congress responded to local concerns by enacting the Central Utah Project Completion Act on October 30, 1992. In the Central Utah Project Completion Act, Congress provided the direction for completing the Central Utah Project under a partnership among the Central Utah Water Conservancy District, the United States Department of the Interior, and the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission, a federal commission created by the Central Utah Project Completion Act. The Central Utah Project Completion Act removed administrative responsibility for the Central Utah Project completion from the United States Bureau of Reclamation, placing it under the Office of the Secretary of the Interior. As a result, the Central Utah Project Completion Act Office, a branch of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Water and Science located in Provo, Utah, administers the Central Utah Project Completion Act and the completion of the Central Utah Project. That is: Construction of the remainder of the Central Utah Project became the responsibility of the local water district—the Central Utah Water Conservancy District The Central Utah Project Completion Act established the Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission to oversee facilities to mitigate for the environmental effects of the Central Utah Project; and The Central Utah Project Completion Act placed responsibility for oversight of the project with the Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior.