29–006

108TH CONGRESS REPORT " HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ! 2d Session 108–704

MONTANA WATER CONTRACTS EXTENSION ACT OF 2004

SEPTEMBER 28, 2004.—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

Mr. POMBO, from the Committee on Resources, 

submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany H.R. 5009] 

[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 

(H.R. 5009) to extend water contracts between the United States 

and specific irrigation districts and the City of Helena in Montana, 

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

pass.

PURPOSE OF THE BILL

The purpose of H.R. 5009 is to extend water contracts between 

the United States and specific irrigation districts and the City of 

Helena in Montana, and for other purposes. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION

The Flood Control Acts of 1944 and 1946 authorized the PickSloan Missouri River Basin Program (Program). The Program was 

created to provide flood control, irrigation, navigation, recreation, 

preservation and enhancement of fish and wildlife and power generation throughout ten states in the Upper Great Plains region of 

the United States. In the State of Montana, the Helena Valley 

Unit, the Crow Creek Pump Unit, and the East Bench Unit were 

constructed as parts of the Program and are currently owned by 

the Bureau of Reclamation. Irrigation districts in south-central 

Montana and the City of Helena, Montana entered into long-term 

water service contracts with the Bureau of Reclamation for water 

deliveries from these units. 

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1One acre-foot equals 327,000 gallons of water. 

The Helena Valley Unit delivers 87,000 acre-feet 1 of water from 

the Missouri River for use by the Helena Valley Irrigation District 

and the City of Helena, which depends on the unit for 30% of its 

municipal water needs. The Crow Creek Pump Unit lifts approximately 16,800 acre-feet of water from the Missouri River for delivery to the Toston Irrigation District service area. The East Bench 

Unit delivers irrigation water from the Beaverhead River to the 

Clark Canyon Water Supply Company and the East Bench Irrigation District. The contracts for these water deliveries will expire in 

2004 and 2005. The irrigation district, the City of Helena and the 

Bureau of Reclamation have expressed a desire to extend these 

contracts for up to two more years. H.R. 5009 extends these contracts for up to two years. 

Extension of the water contracts will allow these entities appropriate time to negotiate new long-term water contracts. Contract 

renewal negotiations are usually completed some time before expiration, However, the negotiations for the aforementioned water deliveries have been delayed, in part, due to Endangered Species Act 

studies on the Upper Missouri River. The information in these 

studies is considered pertinent to future long-term water service 

contracts. The two-year contract extensions under H.R. 5009 would 

allow for continued water service during the renegotiation process, 

under current terms and conditions, while providing sufficient time 

to negotiate new contracts. 

SUBCOMMITTEE ACTION

Representative Dennis Rehberg (R–MT) introduced H.R. 5009 on 

September 7, 2004. The bill was referred to the Committee on Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on Water 

and Power. On September 9, 2004, the Subcommittee held a hearing on the bill. On September 15, 2004, the Committee on Resources met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee was discharged 

from further consideration of the bill by unanimous consent. No 

amendments were offered and the bill was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives by unanimous consent. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION

Section 1. Short title 

This section cites the title of the bill as the ‘‘Montana Water Contracts Extension Act of 2004.’’

Section 2. Extension of water contracts 

This section authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to extend 

five specific water contracts up to two years on the date which each 

contract expires or the date in which a new long-term water contract is executed. 

COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII 

of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Resources’ oversight findings and recommendations are reflected in 

the body of this report. 

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CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United States 

grants Congress the authority to enact this bill. 

COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII

1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the Rules of 

the House of Representatives requires an estimate and a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) of that rule provides 

that this requirement does not apply when the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974. 

2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) of rule 

XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and section 

308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this bill does not 

contain any new budget authority, spending authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax expenditures. 

3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. As required by 

clause 3(c)(4) of rule XIII, the general performance goal or objective 

of this bill is to extend water contracts between the United States 

and specific irrigation districts and the City of Helena, Montana. 

4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 

3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 

section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate for this bill from the 

Director of the Congressional Budget Office:

H.R. 5009—Montana Water Contract Extension Act of 2004

H.R. 5009 would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to extend 

five specific water contracts in the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin 

in Montana. This bill would extend those contracts for two years 

beyond the current expiration dates or until new long-term contracts are executed, whichever is earlier. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 5009 would have no significant effect on the federal 

budget. 

Under current law, these five contracts result in an aggregate 

annual payment to the federal government of about $125,000 plus 

reimbursements for operations and maintenance costs. Currently, 

three of the contracts are due to expire at the end of 2004, and the 

remaining two contracts will expire at the end of 2005. If those contracts expire, the bureau has the authority to enter into annual interim contracts with the water users (local irrigation districts and 

the city of Helena, Montana) under terms similar to the present 

contracts until long-term contracts are executed. Consequently, 

payments to the federal government under the bill are likely to be 

similar to the payments that would be received under current law. 

H.R. 5009 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. Enacting this 

bill would benefit the affected contractors, which are local government entities. 

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The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Julie Middleton. This 

estimate was approved by Robert A. Sunshine, Assistant Director 

for Budget Analysis. 

COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104–4

This bill contains no unfunded mandates. 

PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW

This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or tribal law. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing law.

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