Southern High Plains Groundwater Resource Conservation Act

Summary: Authorizes and directs the Secretary of Agriculture, through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, to establish a groundwater conservation assistance program for such Aquifer. Directs the Secretary to create a groundwater conservation plan certification process. States that farms in jurisdictions with a certified plan shall be eligible for specified implementation assistance.
Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Southern High Plains Groundwater 
Resource Conservation Act''.

 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) A reliable source of groundwater is an essential 
        element of the economy of the communities on the High Plains.
            (2) The High Plains Aquifer and the Ogallala Aquifer are 
        closely related hydrogeographic structures. The High Plains 
        Aquifer consists largely of the Ogallala Aquifer with small 
        components of other geologic units.
            (3) The High Plains Aquifer experienced a dramatic decline 
        in water table levels in the latter half of the twentieth 
        century. The average weighted decline in the aquifer from 1950 
        to 1997 was 12.6 feet (USGS Fact Sheet 124-99, Dec. 1999).
            (4) The decline in water table levels is especially 
        pronounced in the Southern Ogallala Aquifer, reporting that 
        large areas in the States of Kansas, New Mexico, and Texas 
        experienced declines of over 100 feet in that period (USGS Fact 
        Sheet 124-99, Dec. 1999).
            (5) The saturated thickness of the High Plains Aquifer has 
        declined by over 50 percent in some areas (1186 USGS Circular 
        27, 1999). Furthermore, the survey has reported that the 
        percentage of the High Plains Aquifer which has a saturated 
        thickness of 100 feet or more declined from 54 percent to 51 
        percent in the period from 1980 to 1997 (USGS Fact Sheet 124-
        99, Dec. 1999).
            (6) The decreased water levels in the High Plains Aquifer 
        coupled with higher pumping lift costs raise concerns about the 
        long-term sustainability of irrigated agriculture in the High 
        Plains. (``External Effects of Irrigators' Pumping Decisions, 
        High Plains Aquifer'' Alley and Schefter, American Geophysical 
        Union paper #7W0326; Water Resources Research, Vol. 23, No. 7 
        1123-1130, July 1987).
            (7) Hydrological modeling by the United States Geological 
        Survey indicates that in the context of sustained high 
        groundwater use in the surrounding region, reductions in 
        groundwater pumping at the single farm level or at a very local 
        level of up to 100 square miles, have a very time limited 
        impact on conserving the level of the local water table, thus 
        creating a disincentive for individual water users to invest in 
        water conservation measures. (``External Effects of Irrigators' 
        Pumping Decisions, High Plains Aquifer'', Alley and Schefter, 
        American Geophysical Union, paper #7W0326; Water Resources 
        Research, Vol. 23, No. 7 1123-1130, July 1987).
            (8) Incentives must be created for conservation of 
        groundwater on a regional scale, in order to achieve an 
        agricultural economy on the Southern High Plains that is 
        sustainable.
            (9) For water conservation incentives to function, Federal, 
        State, tribal, and local water policymakers, and individual 
        groundwater users must have access to reliable information 
        concerning aquifer recharge rates, extraction rates, and water 
        table levels at the local and regional levels on an ongoing 
        basis.
    (b) Purposes.--To promote groundwater conservation on the Southern 
High Plains in order to extend the usable life of the Southern Ogallala 
Aquifer.

 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) High plains aquifer.--The term ``High Plains Aquifer'' 
        means the groundwater reserve depicted as Figure 1 in the 
        United States Geological Survey Professional Paper 1400-B, 
        titled ``Geohydrology of the High Plains Aquifer in Parts of 
        Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, 
        Texas, and Wyoming''.
            (2) High plains.--The term ``High Plains'' means the 
        approximately 174,000 square miles of land surface overlying 
        the High Plains Aquifer in the States of New Mexico, Colorado, 
        Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
            (3) Southern ogallala aquifer.--The term ``Southern 
        Ogallala Aquifer'' means that part of the High Plains Aquifer 
        lying below 39 degrees north latitude which underlies the 
        States of New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma, Colorado, and 
        Kansas.
            (4) Southern high plains.--The term ``Southern High 
        Plains'' means the portions of the States of New Mexico, Texas, 
        and Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas which overlie the Southern 
        Ogallala Aquifer.
            (5) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means either the 
        Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture, as 
        appropriate.
            (6) Water conservation measure.--The term ``water 
        conservation measures'' means measures which enhance the 
        groundwater recharge rate of a given piece of land, or which 
        increase water use efficiencies.

SEC. 4. HYDROLOGIC MAPPING, MODELING, AND MONITORING PROGRAM.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of the Interior, working though the 
United States Geological Survey, shall develop a comprehensive 
hydrologic mapping, modeling, and monitoring program for the Southern 
Ogallala Aquifer. The program shall include on a county-by-county 
basis--
            (1) a map of the hydrological configuration of the Aquifer; 
        and
            (2) an analysis of--
                    (A) the current and past rate at which groundwater 
                is being withdrawn and recharged, and the net rate of 
                decrease or increase in aquifer storage;
                    (B) the factors controlling the rate of horizontal 
                migration of water within the Aquifer;
                    (C) the degree to which aquifer compaction caused 
                by pumping and recharge methods in impacting the 
                storage and recharge capacity of the groundwater body; 
                and
                    (D) the current and past rate of loss of saturated 
                thickness within the Aquifer.
    (b) Annual Report.--Not later than one year after the enactment of 
this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report 
on the status of the Southern Ogallala Aquifer to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate, the Committee on Resources 
of the House of Representatives, and the Governors of the States of New 
Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, and Kansas.

SEC. 5. GROUNDWATER CONSERVATION ASSISTANCE.

    (a) Federal Assistance.--The Secretary of Agriculture, working 
through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, shall establish a 
groundwater conservation assistance program for Southern Ogallala 
Aquifer.
    (b) Design and Planning.--The Secretary shall provide financial and 
technical assistance, including modeling and engineering design to 
States, tribes, and counties, conservation districts, or other 
political subdivisions recognized under State law, for the development 
of comprehensive groundwater conservation plans within the Southern 
High Plains. This assistance shall be provided on a cost-share basis 
ensuring that--
            (1) the Federal funding for the development of any given 
        plan shall not exceed 50 percent of the cost; and
            (2) the Federal funding for groundwater water conservation 
        planning for any one county, conservation district, or similar 
        political subdivision recognized under State law shall not 
        exceed $50,000.
    (c) Certification.--The Secretary shall create a certification 
process for comprehensive groundwater conservation plans developed 
under this program, or developed independently by States, tribes, 
counties, or other political subdivisions recognized under State law. 
To be certified, a plan must--
            (1) cover a sufficient geographic area to provide a benefit 
        to the groundwater resource over at least a 20 year period;
            (2) include a set of goals for water conservation; and
            (3) include a process for an annual evaluation of the 
        plan's implementation to allow for modifications if goals are 
        not being met.

SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--Farming operations within jurisdictions which have 
a certified conservation plan in accordance with section 5(c) shall be 
eligible assistance for projects described in subsection (b).
    (b) Eligible Projects.--Projects eligible for assistance under 
subsection (a) are as follows:
            (1) Water conservation cost-share assistance.--The 
        Secretary, working through the Natural Resources Conservation 
        Service, may provide grants to individual farming operations of 
        up to $50,000 for implementing on farm water conservation 
        measures including the improvement of irrigation systems and 
        the purchase of new equipment. The Federal share of the water 
        conservation investment in any one operation be no greater than 
        50 percent.
            (2) Irrigated land reserve.--Through the 2020 calendar 
        year, the Secretary shall formulate and carry out the 
        enrollment of lands in a groundwater conservation reserve 
        program through the use of multiple year contracts for 
        irrigated lands which would result in significant per acre 
        savings of groundwater resources if converted to dryland 
        agriculture.
            (3) Conservation reserve program enhancement.--Lands 
        eligible for the Conservation Reserve Program established under 
        section 1231 of the Food Security Act of 1985 which would 
        result in significant per acre savings of groundwater resources 
        if removed from agricultural production shall be awarded 20 
        Conservation Reserve Program bid points, to be designated as 
        groundwater conservation points, in addition to any other 
        ratings the lands may receive.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated--
            (1) $5,000,000 annually through fiscal year 2020 for 
        hydrologic mapping, modeling, and monitoring under this Act;
            (2) $5,000,000 annually through fiscal year 2020 for 
        groundwater conservation planning, design, and plan 
        certification under this Act;
            (3) $30,000,000 annually through fiscal year 2020 for cost-
        share assistance for on farm water conservation measures; and
            (4) $30,000,000 annually through fiscal year 2020 for 
        enrollment of lands in an Irrigated Lands Reserve.