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Show Tuesday, August 9, 1994 Sun Advocate, Price, Utah 5A Utah Foundation report evaluates Central Utah Projects total cost, financial impact The Central Utah Project, one of the largest construction projects ever undertaken in Utah, is presently in the final stages of development. When finally completed in 2003 or 2004, CUP will also be one of the most expensive building projects, public or private ever undertaken in from the Uintah Basin (that would otherwise flow into the Colorado River) into the Great Basin to quench the thirst of farms and cities along the Wasatch Front and in central Utah, United States Bureau of indicated the Utah Foundation in a recent research report. Construction costs on the project currently exceed $1.8 billion. With planning, engineering, administration, legal settlements, land acquisition and highway relocation costs, the total bill for CUP tops $2.5 billion. Most Utahns do not have a clear picture of the CUP, stated foundation director Michael Christensen. They have grown up hearing bits and pieces about the CUP in the news Draper acts as grand marshal Asa Draper, grand marshal of the International Days 1 994 parade, checks out the huge crowd that lined Prices Main Street Saturday morning in honor of the event. congressional appropriation battles, environmental impact statements, construction progress, delays, lawsuits, cost overruns, etc. The purpose of our report to is take a look at the CUP with the advantage of hindsight and explain what it means for Utah water users and taxpayers, Christensen added. According to the report, CUP is a complex and massive storage and diversion project that moves about 200 of water thousand acre-fe- Utah. Authorized by Congress in 1956, CUP was planned and engineered primarily by the Reclamation. The federal governments initial purpose in western water projects was mainly to help small farmers by bringing arid lands into production, stated Christensen. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamations mandate was to reclaim the desert lands of the West by building dams and canals and selling irrigation water to small farmers. But over time, the bureaus mission evolved. Its primary constituents changed from small farmers to big farmers, cities, land developers, construction contractors and politicians, pointed out Christensen. Today, water officials generally agree that the eventual fate of CUP will be to supply water to the cities along the Wasatch Front. According to the foundation report, CUP was the result of several factors. First, it owes its existence to the Colorado River Compacts of 1922 and 1948 which divided up the waters of the Colorado among the states in the Colorado River basin. Second, CUP came about as a result of a genuine belief that the water was needed in order for the state to grow and prosper. With this belief came the fear that Utah must put its allocation to beneficial use or risk losing it to downstream states. The third factor behind CUP was a practice that prevailed in Congress from World War II until 1975 that assumed for the federal government the primary financial obligaion for water development. The fourth factor is closely related the economic impact of federal dollars. The mere availability of significant amounts of federal money to boost Utahs economy was certainly a powerful incentive to get behind CUP. By the late 1980s, however, CUP was uncompleted and way over budget. The United States Congress was no longer in the mood to approve expen sive water development voice. The Central Utah Project Completion Act of 1992 made a number of important changes to CUP. One was the imposition of a local cost share that required Utah taxpayers to pay 35 percent of the pro- jects remaining cost Options for meeting the obligation include raising the Central Utah Water Conservancy Districts property tax, bonding, borrowing from the water resource board and tapping into the state sales tax. According to the foundation report, regardless of which funding option or combination of options may be used, water rates in Utah are going to go higher. Regardless of the high cost, it does seem clear that because of the CUP, water will not pose a constraint to growth along the Wasatch Front for the foreseeable future, the foundation AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY' v et Labor Department resolves unpaid family leave complaints U.S. Even though millions of American workers are now entitled by law to take up to three months off to care for their families, compaints received by the United States Labor Department indicate many employers remain unaware or unconvinced they are required to grant the unpaid leave. At the same time, the vast majority of the family leave complaints have been easily resolved by the department. We can be proud that employees are no longer forced into agonizing choices between keeping their jobs and taking care of those they love, said Labor Secretary Robert Reich. However, at the close of the Family and Medical Leave Acts first year, too many employees and employers are still not familiar with how it works. We fully intend to continue our efforts to educate both employers and employees of their responsibilities and rights under the law. The Department of Labor is ready with tough, responsible enforcement to stand behind any employee who believes his or her rights have been violated, added Reich. The Labor Department has completed investigations of 965 FMLA-relate- d complaints by employees since the Family and Medical Leave Act went into effect on Aug. 5, 1993. Of these, 61 percent (591) were determined to be violations of FMLA and are considered valid complaints. Of the complaints, 65 percent wTere that employers had refused to return employees to their same or equivalent jobs. Twenty percent complained that their employers flatly refused to grant leave. Once contacted, the department resolved 90 percent of the violations, usually by phone. In most cases, educating the employer about the provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act was enough to bring the employer into compliance. Since the law was enacted, the department has responded to more than 130,000 requests for technical help and publications and more than 800 requests for speeches, seminars and media interviews. It has also distributed thousands of radio and television public service announcements throughout the country. The law allows eligible workers up to 12 weeks of leave for unpaid, such reasons as the specified of a birth or adoption child, care of a spouse, child or parent with serious health problems, or a serious health job-protect- condition preventing the employee from doing his or her job. Employers must coninue to pay group health insurance for employees on family and medical leave and allow them to return to the same or equivalent job. SPORTS FANS! J I BET YOU DIDN'T KNOW Brought to you By Chris Nelson Can you Imagine a big league baseball player leading the league In making most errors; in being struck out the most times; and in hitting Into the most double plays-a- nd still being voted Most Valuable Player in his league for that yearL.Did you know this once happened?...lt was 1942...Joe Gordon did all those things, yet won the Most Valuable Player award that season in the American League...There's a lesson to be learned from this...lt shows that even though you have faults, you can overcome them and be recognized for your good points. t I Get an 8 Count Package of City Market Hamburger Buns t Mow do you figure this one...0nly about 10 of the U.S. population is yet almost 30 of major league baseball players are Friends and Associates of PECZUH PRINTING CO. are invited to attend an Op'en House & Ribbon Here's a golf question that may surprise which you...Of all the pro golfers of one won the most tournaments in the history of the U.S. men's pro tour? ...It's not Jack Nlcklaus as many would guess... Answer Is San Snead. August 10th and August 16th, today! 1994. Cutting Ceremony Customer Receives Coupon at their new printing plant at 355 East 100 South in Price MOUNTAIN VIEW Friday, Aug. 12 from 1:00 to 5:00 pm MOTORS Ribbon Cutting at 1:00 pm Open House and Tours to follow Every Photo Processing Order Received Between I bet you didn't know...that Mountain View Motors is receiving a special alacatlon of extended cab4 wheel drives, now priced to sell and equip! the way you want them. Come In and see us and start driving yours 1355 S. Carbon Ave. 0 Price In Every Develop & Print Order of 35mm or 110 Color Print Film Only. 0 10 pro- jects and environmental concerns had gained a stronger |