IIB 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1855 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 23, 2007 

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

Resources 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Enhancement Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

5 For the purposes of this Act: 

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

7 Madera Irrigation District, Madera, California. 

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

9 Madera Water Supply Enhancement Project, a 

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

11 in Madera, California, owned, operated, maintained, 

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

13 and construct recharge, recovery, and delivery sys14 tems able to store up to 250,000 acre-feet of water 

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

16 as substantially described in the California Environ17 mental Quality Act, Final Environmental Impact 

18 Report for the Madera Irrigation District Water 

19 Supply Enhancement Project, September 2005. 

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

21 the Secretary of the United States Department of 

22 the Interior. 

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

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

25 permitting, and construction of the Project and the 


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1 acquisition costs of lands used or acquired by the 

2 District for the Project. 

3 SEC. 3. PROJECT FEASIBILITY. 

4 (a) PROJECT FEASIBLE.—Pursuant to the Reclama5 tion Act of 1902 (32 Stat. 388) and Acts amendatory 

6 thereof and supplemental thereto, the Project is feasible 

7 and no further studies or actions regarding feasibility are 

8 necessary. 

9 (b) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—The Sec10 retary shall implement the authority provided in this Act 

11 in accordance with all applicable Federal laws, including 

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

13 4321 et seq.) and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

14 (7 U.S.C. 136; 16 U.S.C. 460 et seq.). 

15 SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT. 

16 All final planning and design and the construction of 

17 the Project authorized by this Act shall be undertaken in 

18 accordance with a cooperative agreement between the Sec19 retary and the District for the Project. Such cooperative 

20 agreement shall set forth in a manner acceptable to the 

21 Secretary and the District the responsibilities of the Dis22 trict for participating, which shall include— 

23 (1) engineering and design; 

24 (2) construction; and 


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1 (3) the administration of contracts pertaining 

2 to any of the foregoing. 

3 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR THE MADERA WATER SUPPLY 

4 AND ENHANCEMENT PROJECT. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF CONSTRUCTION.—The Sec6 retary, acting pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws 

7 (Act of June 17, 1902; 32 Stat. 388), and Acts amend8 atory thereof or supplementary thereto, is authorized to 

9 enter into a cooperative agreement through the Bureau 

10 of Reclamation with the District for the support of the 

11 final design and construction of the Project. 

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

13 the purposes of determining the Federal cost share shall 

14 not exceed $90,000,000. 

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

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

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

18 and land acquisition costs incurred by the District prior 

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

20 a portion of the non-Federal cost share. 

21 (d) CREDIT FOR NON-FEDERAL WORK.—The Dis22 trict shall receive credit toward the non-Federal share of 

23 the cost of the Project for— 


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1 (1) in-kind services that the Secretary deter2 mines would contribute substantially toward the 

3 completion of the project; 

4 (2) reasonable costs incurred by the District as 

5 a result of participation in the planning, design, per6 mitting, and construction of the Project; and 

7 (3) the acquisition costs of lands used or ac8 quired by the District for the Project. 

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

10 funds for the operation or maintenance of the Project au11 thorized by this section. The operation, ownership, and 

12 maintenance of the Project shall be the sole responsibility 

13 of the District. 

14 (f) PLANS AND ANALYSES CONSISTENT WITH FED15 ERAL LAW.—Before obligating funds for design or con16 struction under this section, the Secretary shall work co17 operatively with the District to use, to the extent possible, 

18 plans, designs, and engineering and environmental anal19 yses that have already been prepared by the District for 

20 the Project. The Secretary shall ensure that such informa21 tion as is used is consistent with applicable Federal laws 

22 and regulations. 

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

24 this section or the assistance provided under this section 


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1 shall be construed to transfer title, responsibility, or liabil2 ity related to the Project to the United States. 

3 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

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

6 of the Project, whichever is less. 

7 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

8 The authority of the Secretary to carry out any provi9 sions of this Act shall terminate 10 years after the date 

10 of the enactment of this Act. 

Passed the House of Representatives October 22, 

2007. 

Attest: LORRAINE C. MILLER, 

Clerk. 


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