59–010 

Calendar No. 37 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 110–12 

NEW MEXICO WATER PLANNING ASSISTANCE ACT 

FEBRUARY 15, 2007.—Ordered to be printed 

Mr. BINGAMAN, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 255] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 255) to provide assistance to the State of New 

Mexico for the development of comprehensive State water plans, 

and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do 

pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 255 is to provide assistance to the State of New 

Mexico for the development of comprehensive State water plans. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer (NM OSE) is statutorily required to perform assessments and investigations of the 

numerous stream systems and ground water basins located within 

New Mexico. In order to perform these assessments, it is necessary 

for the NM OSE to undertake hydrographic surveys and develop 

hydrologic models. These assessments assist Federal agencies by 

providing fundamental information on hydrologic conditions important for flood assessment, land management, Tribal water resources assessments, and Federal water project management. The 

NM OSE lacks adequate resources to perform necessary hydrologic 

models and data collection. This lack of resources impairs the NM 

OSE’s ability to make informed decisions about the State’s water 

resources, participate in state-Federal water management decisions, effectively perform water rights administration, and comply 

with New Mexico’s compact deliveries. 


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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 255 was introduced on January 10, 2007, by Senators Domenici and Bingaman. 

During the 109th Congress, the Committee considered similar 

legislation, S. 178, also sponsored by Senators Domenici and Bingaman. The Committee ordered S. 178 favorably reported on February 9, 2005 (S. Rept. 109–16) and the Senate passed the bill by 

unanimous consent on July 26, 2005. No further action occurred 

prior to the sine die adjournment of the 109th Congress. 

During the 108th Congress, the Committee considered a similar 

measure, S. 2460. The Subcommittee on Water and Power held a 

hearing on S. 2460 on June 17, 2004 (S. Hrg. 108–668) and the 

Committee ordered S. 2460, as amended, favorably reported on 

July 14, 2004 (S. Rept. 108–326). S. 2460 passed the Senate by 

unanimous consent on September 15, 2004. 

At the business meeting on January 31, 2007, the Committee on 

Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 255 favorably reported. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an 

open business meeting on January 31, 2007, by a voice vote of a 

quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 255. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 provides the short title, the ‘‘New Mexico Water Planning Assistance Act.’’

Section 2 defines key terms used in the Act. 

Section 3(a) directs the Secretary, upon the request of the Governor of New Mexico, to provide technical assistance and grants for 

the development of State water plans, conduct water resources 

mapping in the State, and conduct a study of groundwater resources. 

Subsection (b) specifies what technical assistance the Secretary 

may provide. 

Subsection (c) allocates grants among projects. 

Subsection (d) provides that the non-Federal cost share shall be 

50 percent, the non-Federal share may be in the form of any inkind services, the grants provided to the State shall be made on a 

non-reimbursable basis, and the Secretary shall transfer any 

amount made available under the Act to one or more Federal agencies upon request of the State. 

Section 4 authorizes to be appropriated $3,000,000 for each fiscal 

year 2006 through 2010 to carry out the Act. 

Section 5 sunsets the authority provided by the act after 10 

years. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office: 


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S. 255 New Mexico Water Planning Assistance Act—As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on January 31, 2007 

Summary: S. 255 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior, 

acting through the Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Geological 

Survey, to provide technical assistance and grants to the state of 

New Mexico for developing comprehensive water plans, conducting 

water resources mapping, and implementing a study of groundwater resources (including potable, brackish, and saline water resources). The bill would authorize the appropriation of $3 million 

annually over the 2008–2012 period for technical assistance and 

grants. S. 255 would require nonfederal grantees to pay 50 percent 

of total project costs. 

Assuming appropriation of the authorized amounts, CBO esti- mates that implementing the bill would cost $14 million over the 

2008–2012 period and an additional $1 million after that period. 

Enacting S. 255 would not affect direct spending or revenues. 

S. 255 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates 

as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) and 

would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. Federal spending authorized by this bill would benefit the state of New 

Mexico, and any expenditures made by the state to satisfy the bill’s 

matching requirement would be made voluntarily. 

Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated budgetary impact of S. 255 is shown in the following table. The costs 

of this legislation fall within budget function 300 (natural resources 

and environment). For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 255 will 

be enacted near the end of 2007. Based on historical spending patterns for similar projects, CBO estimates that implementing this 

bill would cost $14 million over the 2008–2012 period and an addi- tional $1 million after that period. 

By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 

CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION 

Authorization Level ........................................................................................ 3 3 3 3 3 

Estimated Outlays ......................................................................................... 2 3 3 3 3 

Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 255 contains no 

intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA 

and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 

Federal spending authorized by this bill would benefit the state of 

New Mexico, and any expenditures made by the state to satisfy the 

bill’s matching requirement would be made voluntarily. 

Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Julie Middleton; Impact on 

State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Lisa Ramirez-Branum; and 

Impact on the Private Sector: Amy Petz. 

Estimate approved by: peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

S. 255. The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposVerDate Aug 31 2005 00:43 Feb 21, 2007 Jkt 059010 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6602 E:\HR\OC\SR012.XXX SR012

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ing Government-established standards or significant responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 

No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of S. 255. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

Because S. 255 is similar to legislation considered during the 

109th and 108th Congresses, the Committee did not request Executive Agency views. The testimony provided by the Bureau of Reclamation at the Subcommittee hearing on S. 2460 in the 108th 

Congress follows: 

STATEMENT OF JOHN W. KEYS, III, COMMISSIONER BUREAU

OF RECLAMATION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Madam Chair, my name is John W. Keys, III, Commissioner of Reclamation (Reclamation). I am pleased to be 

here today to present the views of the Department of the 

Interior (Department) regarding S. 2460, which would authorize assistance to be provided to the State of New Mexico for the development of comprehensive State water 

plans, and for other purposes. 

We share the views of the sponsor of this bill, Senator 

Domenici, that is, the importance of sound science for use 

by water resource planners. However, the Department is 

concerned about the financial resources that would be required for Reclamation and the United States Geological 

Survey (USGS) to carry out S. 2460 in the context of the 

availability of resources overall for Administration programs. Further, the provision for any assistance or grants 

to be made on a non-reimbursable basis and without a 

costsharing requirement is inconsistent with the funding 

arrangements that Reclamation and the USGS have for 

similar activities in other states. For these reasons, the 

Administration cannot support the bill as currently written. 

The bill directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

through Reclamation and the USGS, to (1) provide technical assistance and grants to the State for the development of comprehensive State water plans; (2) conduct 

water resources mapping in the State; and (3) conduct a 

comprehensive study of groundwater resources (including 

potable, brackish, and saline water resources) to assess the 

quantity, quality, and interaction of groundwater and surface water resources in the State. This would be accomplished through technical assistance and grants. 

The technical assistance role identified for the Department in this bill is consistent with the USGS’s leadership 

role in interpretation, research, and assessment of the 

earth and biological resources of the nation. It is likewise 

consistent with the Reclamation’s leadership role in water 

resources research, modeling, analysis, assessment and 

management. However, the direction to provide these 


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grants to the State on a noncompetitive basis is not in harmony with the Administration’s efforts, such as through 

Water 2025, to use a competitive process to focus our existing resources in those areas where future water conflicts 

are most likely to occur. Even though some New Mexico 

projects would likely be very competitive in that process, 

the Administration would prefer that New Mexico’s needs 

compete on an equal footing with other meritorious 

projects that apply for assistance. Let me briefly describe 

the activities of the USGS and Reclamation in this context. 

As the nation’s largest water, earth, biological science, 

and civilian mapping agency, USGS conducts the most extensive groundwater and surface water investigations in 

the nation in conjunction with state and local partners. 

The USGS New Mexico District currently operates 209 

streamflow stations and routinely measures groundwater 

levels at 1,658 well sites through cooperative programs 

with several local, state, tribal, and federal agencies. In 

addition to hydrologic monitoring programs, the USGS is 

providing hydrologic understanding to water agencies 

through the Cooperative Water Program by conducting 

several investigative projects that include describing the 

interaction of surface water and ground water in the 

Mesilla and Middle Rio Grande basins, evaluating modeling approaches in the Santa Fe Embayment and La 

Cienega areas of the Espanola Basin, and quantifying 

streamflow gains and losses in the Espanola Basin along 

the Rio Grande mainstem and its tributaries. In support 

of all water agencies within New Mexico, USGS technical 

specialists participate on work groups and committees 

each year. 

Currently, USGS personnel are involved in the New 

Mexico Brackish Water Task Force, the Rio Grande Environmental Assessment for Upper Rio Grande water operations, and the Department of the Interior’s Southwest 

Strategy. 

Reclamation, as the nation’s largest western water and 

hydro-electric power supplier and water management 

agency, conducts the most extensive river storage and delivery operations and related research in the seventeen 

western states in conjunction with tribal, state and local 

partners. Reclamation has provided technical and monetary assistance to two of the New Mexico state regional 

water plans, reviewed and commented on the draft State 

Water Plan, and provided water resource-related technical 

assistance through Reclamation’s Technical Assistance to 

States planning program. In addition, Reclamation is actively involved in several Indian water supply projects 

within New Mexico, and has developed and maintains 

state-of-the-art, internet-delivered decision support data on 

evapotranspiration depletions to the Rio Grande system, 

and conducts daily river system modeling for water accounting, contracted deliveries and endangered species 

support. 


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In summary, the goals of the bill are commendable, and 

the bill contains provisions that are within the scope and 

expertise of Reclamation and the USGS. However, it is the 

position of the Administration that funding for the activities in this bill be pursued through existing authorities 

and procedures, and not through specific Congressional direction that supersedes established processes, competitive 

or otherwise. Also, we believe that the cost-sharing provisions of this bill should conform to other similar programs 

undertaken by Reclamation and the USGS, such as Reclamation Title XVI program, which requires a 50 percent 

local share, or the USGS Cooperative Water Program, 

which requires a dollar for dollar match of federal and 

non-federal funds. Requiring these cost-shares not only 

stretches limited federal funds, but also emphasizes that 

States are primarily responsible for managing the water 

resources within their borders, and not the Federal government. Finally, we find that S. 2460 is sufficiently vague regarding the relative roles and functions of Reclamation 

and the USGS, which could cause significant delay in implementation, as well as the fact that the bill, as written, 

duplicates some existing agency programs and authorizations and sets a major precedent of providing federal funding for State water plans. 

Thank you, Madam Chair, for the opportunity to present 

this testimony. I will be pleased to answer questions you 

and other Members of the Subcommittee might have. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 255 as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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