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B-316760 1 (2009-02-19)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadasx0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 B-316760 February 19, 2009 The Honorable Harry S. Reid Majority Leader United States Senate Subject: Bureau of Reclamation ' Legal Obligation to Dredge Laughlin Lagoon Dear Senator Reid: This letter responds to your request for GAO's opinion regarding whether the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (BoR) has a legal obligation to maintain the channels in Laughlin Lagoon that provide access to the Colorado River for boat traffic. Laughlin Lagoon was created in the late 1960s as a result of BoR's construction of a so-called training structure on the Colorado River in present-day Laughlin, Nevada, primarily to improve navigation along the river. The town of Laughlin, landowners, and others believe BoR is responsible for maintaining the lagoon in a condition that permits boat access to the river. BoR disagrees. Based on the available information and as detailed below, we conclude that BoR does not have a legal obligation to maintain the channels in Laughlin Lagoon that provide river access for boats. Neither a federal permit authorizing one-time BoR dredging in 1999-2000, nor any statutory or other legal requirements, impose a duty on BoR to maintain the navigability of Laughlin Lagoon's access channels.' 'Consistent with our regular practice in preparing legal opinions, see GAO, Procedures and Practices for Legal Decisions and Opinions, GAO-06-1064SP (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 2006), available at httD://WWW.!ao.5 oN/Ie.al/resourcesitml, we obtained BoR's legal views on whether it is required to maintain Laughlin Lagoon's access channels. Its position is set forth in an internal September 3, 2008, legal memorandum (September 2008 BoR Memorandum), which BoR provided to us. We also met with BoR counsel and other officials knowledgeable about the agency's legal position, and we reviewed relevant BoR documents dating from the 1960s to the present day. In addition to obtaining BoR's views, we reviewed U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife documents concerning BoR's 1999-2000 dredging of the lagoon and met with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials, the Laughlin Town Manager, a Laughlin landowner, and the Clark County, Nevada, Department of Public Works.

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