II 

Calendar No. 816 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1855 

[Report No. 110–384] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 23, 2007 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

JUNE 16, 2008 

Reported by Mr. BINGAMAN, without amendment 

AN ACT 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 

the Bureau of Reclamation to enter into a cooperative 

agreement with the Madera Irrigation District for purposes of supporting the Madera Water Supply Enhancement Project. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Madera Water Supply 

5 Enhancement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 For the purposes of this Act: 

3 (1) DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘District’’ means the 

4 Madera Irrigation District, Madera, California. 

5 (2) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Project’’ means the 

6 Madera Water Supply Enhancement Project, a 

7 groundwater bank on the 13,646-acre Madera Ranch 

8 in Madera, California, owned, operated, maintained, 

9 and managed by the District that will plan, design, 

10 and construct recharge, recovery, and delivery sys11 tems able to store up to 250,000 acre-feet of water 

12 and recover up to 55,000 acre-feet of water per year, 

13 as substantially described in the California Environ14 mental Quality Act, Final Environmental Impact 

15 Report for the Madera Irrigation District Water 

16 Supply Enhancement Project, September 2005. 

17 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

18 the Secretary of the United States Department of 

19 the Interior. 

20 (4) TOTAL COST.—The term ‘‘total cost’’ means 

21 all reasonable costs, such as the planning, design, 

22 permitting, and construction of the Project and the 

23 acquisition costs of lands used or acquired by the 

24 District for the Project. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROJECT FEASIBILITY. 

2 (a) PROJECT FEASIBLE.—Pursuant to the Reclama3 tion Act of 1902 (32 Stat. 388) and Acts amendatory 

4 thereof and supplemental thereto, the Project is feasible 

5 and no further studies or actions regarding feasibility are 

6 necessary. 

7 (b) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—The Sec8 retary shall implement the authority provided in this Act 

9 in accordance with all applicable Federal laws, including 

10 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

11 4321 et seq.) and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

12 (7 U.S.C. 136; 16 U.S.C. 460 et seq.). 

13 SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT. 

14 All final planning and design and the construction of 

15 the Project authorized by this Act shall be undertaken in 

16 accordance with a cooperative agreement between the Sec17 retary and the District for the Project. Such cooperative 

18 agreement shall set forth in a manner acceptable to the 

19 Secretary and the District the responsibilities of the Dis20 trict for participating, which shall include— 

21 (1) engineering and design; 

22 (2) construction; and 

23 (3) the administration of contracts pertaining 

24 to any of the foregoing. 


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1 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR THE MADERA WATER SUPPLY 

2 AND ENHANCEMENT PROJECT. 

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF CONSTRUCTION.—The Sec4 retary, acting pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws 

5 (Act of June 17, 1902; 32 Stat. 388), and Acts amend6 atory thereof or supplementary thereto, is authorized to 

7 enter into a cooperative agreement through the Bureau 

8 of Reclamation with the District for the support of the 

9 final design and construction of the Project. 

10 (b) TOTAL COST.—The total cost of the Project for 

11 the purposes of determining the Federal cost share shall 

12 not exceed $90,000,000. 

13 (c) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the capital 

14 costs of the Project shall not exceed 25 percent of the total 

15 cost. Capital, planning, design, permitting, construction, 

16 and land acquisition costs incurred by the District prior 

17 to the date of the enactment of this Act shall be considered 

18 a portion of the non-Federal cost share. 

19 (d) CREDIT FOR NON-FEDERAL WORK.—The Dis20 trict shall receive credit toward the non-Federal share of 

21 the cost of the Project for— 

22 (1) in-kind services that the Secretary deter23 mines would contribute substantially toward the 

24 completion of the project; 


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1 (2) reasonable costs incurred by the District as 

2 a result of participation in the planning, design, per3 mitting, and construction of the Project; and 

4 (3) the acquisition costs of lands used or ac5 quired by the District for the Project. 

6 (e) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not provide 

7 funds for the operation or maintenance of the Project au8 thorized by this section. The operation, ownership, and 

9 maintenance of the Project shall be the sole responsibility 

10 of the District. 

11 (f) PLANS AND ANALYSES CONSISTENT WITH FED12 ERAL LAW.—Before obligating funds for design or con13 struction under this section, the Secretary shall work co14 operatively with the District to use, to the extent possible, 

15 plans, designs, and engineering and environmental anal16 yses that have already been prepared by the District for 

17 the Project. The Secretary shall ensure that such informa18 tion as is used is consistent with applicable Federal laws 

19 and regulations. 

20 (g) TITLE; RESPONSIBILITY; LIABILITY.—Nothing in 

21 this section or the assistance provided under this section 

22 shall be construed to transfer title, responsibility, or liabil23 ity related to the Project to the United States. 

24 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There is 

25 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 


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1 out this Act $22,500,000 or 25 percent of the total cost 

2 of the Project, whichever is less. 

3 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

4 The authority of the Secretary to carry out any provi5 sions of this Act shall terminate 10 years after the date 

6 of the enactment of this Act. 


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Calendar No. 816 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1855 

[Report No. 110

–384] 

AN ACT 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

Madera Water Supply Enhancement Project. tion District for purposes of supporting the a cooperative agreement with the Madera Irrigathrough the Bureau of Reclamation to enter into 

JUNE 16, 2008 

Reported without amendment 


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