I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2982

To amend the Flood Control Act of 1948 with respect to the Middle Rio 

Grande Project to authorize programs for water conservation, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2003

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Resources 

A BILL

To amend the Flood Control Act of 1948 with respect to 

the Middle Rio Grande Project to authorize programs 

for water conservation, and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Middle Rio Grande 

5 Emergency Water Supply Stabilization Act of 2003’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO FLOOD CONTROL ACT OF 1948. 

7 The Flood Control Act of 1948 (title II of the Act 

8 of June 30, 1948 (chapter 771; 62 Stat. 1175 et seq.)) 

9 is amended—
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1 (1) by inserting after the title heading the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘Subtitle A—’’; 

4 (2) in section 203, under the heading ‘‘RIO 

5 GRANDE BASIN’’ by striking paragraph (c) and 

6 inserting the following: 

7 ‘‘(c) The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 

8 Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, and in con9 junction with other interested Federal agencies and the 

10 State of New Mexico, is directed to make studies to deter11 mine feasible and cost-effective ways and means of reduc12 ing nonbeneficial consumption of water by phreatic vegeta13 tion in the flood plain of the Rio Grande and its principal 

14 tributaries above Caballo Reservoir.’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘Subtitle B—

17 ‘‘SEC. 221. SHORT TITLE. 

18 ‘‘This subtitle may be cited as the ‘Middle Rio 

19 Grande Emergency Water Supply Stabilization Act of 

20 2003’. 

21 ‘‘SEC. 222. PURPOSES. 

22 ‘‘The purposes of this subtitle are to—

23 ‘‘(1) authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 

24 contribute to a long-term solution for the Middle Rio 

25 Grande River in the State of New Mexico by pre-
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1 venting, reducing, or eliminating wasteful depletion 

2 of waters; 

3 ‘‘(2) encourage the implementation of water 

4 conservation measures that will improve water quan5 tity and water quality conditions needed to support 

6 a living river environment for the Middle Rio Grande 

7 River, with resultant conservation, recreation, and 

8 other public benefits; and 

9 ‘‘(3) achieve quantifiable improvements in irri10 gation efficiencies of not less than 10 percent above 

11 the year 2002–2003 baseline conditions within three 

12 years of the date of enactment of this subtitle, and 

13 not less than 20 percent improvement in irrigation 

14 efficiencies within six years of the date of enactment 

15 of this subtitle. 

16 ‘‘(4) confirm the original intentions of Congress 

17 as set forth in the Colorado River Storage Project 

18 Act (Act of April 11, 1956, 43 U.S.C. 620g), direct19 ing the Secretary ‘to investigate, plan, construct, op20 erate, and maintain (1) public recreational facilities 

21 on lands withdrawn or acquired for the development 

22 of said project or of said participating projects, to 

23 conserve the scenery, the natural, historic, and 

24 archeologic objects, and the wildlife on said lands, 

25 and to provide for public use and enjoyment of the 
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1 same and of the water areas created by these 

2 projects by such means as are consistent with the 

3 primary purposes of said projects; and (2) facilities 

4 to mitigate losses of, and improve conditions for, the 

5 propagation of fish and wildlife’, and the authoriza6 tion for the initial stage of the San Juan-Chama 

7 Project (Act of June 13, 1962, Public Law 87–483 

8 (76 Stat. 96)), directing the Secretary ‘to construct, 

9 operate, and maintain the initial stage of the San 

10 Juan-Chama Project, Colorado-New Mexico, for the 

11 principal purposes of furnishing water supplies . . . 

12 in the Rio Grande Basin and . . . in the existing 

13 Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and for 

14 municipal, domestic, and industrial uses, and pro15 viding recreation and fish and wildlife benefits.’. 

16 ‘‘SEC. 223. DEFINITIONS. 

17 ‘‘In this subtitle: 

18 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—The term ‘eligible 

19 entities’ means organizations, municipalities, Indian 

20 Tribes or Pueblos, individuals, or other entities who 

21 use agricultural or municipal and industrial water 

22 from the Rio Grande River and its tributaries in

23 New Mexico, including water supplied directly or in24 directly from the Middle Rio Grande Project or the 

25 San Juan-Chama Project. 
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1 ‘‘(2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘program’ means 

2 the Middle Rio Grande Water Supply Stabilization 

3 Program established under section 224. 

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

5 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 

6 Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. 

7 ‘‘(4) STATE.—The term ‘State’ means the State 

8 of New Mexico. 

9 ‘‘SEC. 224. WATER CONSERVATION. 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF WATER SUPPLY STA11 BILIZATION PROGRAM.—

12 ‘‘(1) The Secretary, in cooperation with the 

13 State and the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Spe14 cies Act Collaborative Program, shall establish a 

15 program to provide financial and technical assistance 

16 to promote and encourage the adoption and imple17 mentation of water conservation measures within the 

18 Rio Grande Basin in New Mexico, to be known as 

19 the Middle Rio Grande Water Supply Stabilization 

20 Program. 

21 ‘‘(2) The Secretary shall—

22 ‘‘(A) enter into cost sharing and other 

23 agreements with the State and other entities as 

24 may be necessary under the Program; 
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1 ‘‘(B) contribute a share not to exceed 75 

2 percent of the costs of administering and imple3 menting the Program, subject to the provisions 

4 and limitations of subsection (b) of this section; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(C) provide water conservation technical 

7 assistance to the State and the Middle Rio 

8 Grande Conservancy District as may be appro9 priate in furtherance of the purposes of this 

10 subtitle. 

11 ‘‘(3) The Program shall include, at a minimum, 

12 to accomplish the purposes of this subtitle—

13 ‘‘(A) in accordance with subsection (b), ir14 rigation efficiency infrastructure improvements 

15 or other agricultural water conservation meas16 ures; 

17 ‘‘(B) incentives or other measures to en18 courage conversions from production of water19 intensive crops to crops that require less water; 

20 ‘‘(C) measures to improve and encourage 

21 municipal and industrial water conservation 

22 programs including programs specifically de23 signed to reduce consumptive water use from 

24 manufacturing processes; 
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1 ‘‘(D) incentives or other measures to en2 courage the lease, purchase, dry-year optioning, 

3 or dedication of water or water rights to meet 

4 the purposes of this subtitle; 

5 ‘‘(E) establishment of a State program 

6 under which the State holds and enforces water 

7 rights leased, purchased, dry-year optioned, or 

8 otherwise dedicated to provide water supplies to 

9 meet the purposes of this subtitle; 

10 ‘‘(F) designation of a State agency to—

11 ‘‘(i) administer the Program, and to 

12 receive Federal financial contributions 

13 which may be appropriated pursuant to 

14 this subtitle; 

15 ‘‘(ii) establish guidelines and proce16 dures for approving and funding eligible 

17 water conservation projects or measures in 

18 a timely and cost-effective manner; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) ensure that each lease, purchase, 

20 dry-year optioning, and dedication of water 

21 and water rights is consistent with State 

22 water law and the purposes of this subtitle; 

23 and 

24 ‘‘(G) procedures to consider and incor25 porate the views and recommendations of the 
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1 Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Act 

2 Collaborative Program, to the extent those 

3 views and recommendations are consistent with 

4 the purposes of this subtitle. 

5 ‘‘(b) IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY INFRASTRUCTURE AND

6 MEASURES.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The following agricultural 

8 water conservation projects or measures are eligible 

9 to receive cost-shared Federal financial assistance 

10 under the Program: 

11 ‘‘(A) The cost of converting from produc12 tion of a water-intensive crop to a crop that re13 quires less water. 

14 ‘‘(B) The cost of eligible on-farm and off15 farm irrigation efficiency infrastructure and 

16 measures described in paragraph (2) if not less 

17 than 70 percent of the water conserved as a re18 sult of the irrigation efficiency infrastructure 

19 and measures is permanently allocated, directly 

20 or indirectly, to storage in the conservation pool 

21 referred to in section 226 or otherwise made 

22 available for release into the Rio Grande River 

23 to support a living river environment for the 

24 Middle Rio Grande River and to provide con25 servation, recreation, and other public benefits.
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1 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE IRRIGATION EFFICIENCY INFRA2 STRUCTURE AND MEASURES.—Eligible irrigation ef3 ficiency infrastructure and measures referred to in 

4 paragraph (1) are—

5 ‘‘(A) lining of canals and ditches, insula6 tion of piping, and installation of ditch portals 

7 or gates; 

8 ‘‘(B) tail water return systems; 

9 ‘‘(C) low-energy precision applications; 

10 ‘‘(D) low-flow irrigation systems, including 

11 drip and trickle systems and micro-sprinkler 

12 systems; 

13 ‘‘(E) spray jets or nozzles that improve 

14 water distribution efficiency; 

15 ‘‘(F) surge valves; 

16 ‘‘(G) conversion from gravity or flood irri17 gation to low-flow sprinkler or drip irrigation 

18 systems; 

19 ‘‘(H) intake screens, fish passages, and 

20 conversion of diversions to pumps; 

21 ‘‘(I) alternate furrow wetting, irrigation 

22 scheduling, and similar measures; 

23 ‘‘(J) water measuring devices; and 

24 ‘‘(K) such other irrigation efficiency infra25 structure and measures as the Secretary deter-
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1 mines to be appropriate to carry out the pro2 gram. 

3 ‘‘(c) CONTROL OF PHREATIC VEGETATION.—

4 ‘‘(1) The Secretary shall, immediately upon en5 actment of this Act, cooperate with the State of New 

6 Mexico, water user organizations, and affected land7 owners to develop and implement a comprehensive 

8 and cost-effective program to identify, remove, and 

9 control phreatic vegetation in the floodplain of the 

10 Rio Grande River and its principal tributaries above 

11 Caballo Reservoir within the State of New Mexico, 

12 and to replant and reestablish native vegetation as 

13 appropriate. 

14 ‘‘(2) In carrying out the requirements of para15 graph 1, the Secretary shall—

16 ‘‘(A) ensure that state-of-the-art and sci17 entifically defensible methods to remove, con18 trol, and dispose of phreatic vegetation are 

19 used; 

20 ‘‘(B) ensure that labor forces from local 

21 communities and Pueblos are, to the extent pos22 sible, employed to implement this section; and 

23 ‘‘(C) enter into cost-sharing agreement 

24 with the State of New Mexico as may be re25 quired to carry out the purposes of this section. 
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1 ‘‘(3) The Secretary is prohibited from removing 

2 vegetation unless the Secretary has entered into 

3 agreements with private landowners providing for 

4 permission to enter private lands to remove and con5 trol phreatic vegetation and to reestablish native 

6 vegetation. 

7 ‘‘(4) The Secretary shall, in cooperation with 

8 the Secretary of Agriculture, the State of New Mex9 ico, and water users within the floodplain of the Rio 

10 Grande River and its tributaries within the State of 

11 New Mexico, quantify water salvaged by removal 

12 and control of phreatic vegetation under this section. 

13 ‘‘(5) The Secretary is authorized to enter into 

14 agreements for the long-term lease or purchase of 

15 water salvaged by the control and elimination of 

16 phreatic vegetation, such water to remain available 

17 to meet the purposes of this Act. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 225. COST SHARING. 

19 ‘‘(a) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal share 

20 of the cost of implementing municipal and industrial water 

21 conservation programs and projects for converting from 

22 production of a water-intensive crop to a crop that re23 quires less water, or of an irrigation efficiency infrastruc24 ture measure assisted under section 224(b)—

25 ‘‘(1) shall be not less than 25 percent; and 
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1 ‘‘(2) shall be paid by—

2 ‘‘(A) the State; 

3 ‘‘(B) an owner or operator of a farm or 

4 ranch (including an Indian tribe); 

5 ‘‘(C) a nonprofit organization; or 

6 ‘‘(D) and other appropriate entity, as de7 termined by the State. 

8 ‘‘(b) INCREASED NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—If an 

9 owner or operator of a farm or ranch pays 50 percent or 

10 more of the cost of converting from production of a water11 intensive crop to a crop that requires less water, or of an 

12 irrigation efficiency infrastructure or measure, the owner 

13 or operator shall retain the right to use 50 percent of the 

14 water conserved by the conversion, infrastructure, or 

15 measure, as determined by the State.

16 ‘‘SEC. 226. PERMANENT CONSERVATION POOL. 

17 ‘‘At the request of the State and to carry out the 

18 purposes of this subtitle, the Secretary is authorized to—

19 ‘‘(1) establish a permanent conservation pool 

20 for storage of Rio Grande or San Juan-Chama 

21 water, to be established in one or more reservoirs 

22 operated by the Bureau of Reclamation or the U.S. 

23 Army Corps of Engineers, or to otherwise cooperate 

24 with the State in the establishment of such conserva25 tion pool; and 
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1 ‘‘(2) store water salvaged from implementation 

2 of water conservation measures authorized by this 

3 subtitle in the pool referred to in subsection (a) for 

4 release to the Rio Grande River to meet the pur5 poses of this subtitle. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 227. MIDDLE RIO GRANDE ENDANGERED SPECIES 

7 ACT COLLABORATIVE PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘The Secretary and the Secretary of the Army shall 

9 participate in the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species 

10 Act Collaborative Program under the terms and conditions 

11 outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by 

12 representatives of the Secretary and the Secretary of the 

13 Army on April 23, 2002, or as that agreement may be 

14 modified by future agreements of the signatory parties. 

15 ‘‘SEC. 228. WATER RIGHTS OF INDIAN TRIBES AND PUEB16 LOS. 

17 ‘‘(a) The Secretary shall, for the benefit of Indian 

18 Tribes and Pueblos with unquantified and unadjudicated 

19 water rights within the Middle Rio Grande Basin in New 

20 Mexico, provide direct financial assistance to such Tribes 

21 and Pueblos, for the purposes of determining and quanti22 fying Indian water rights and water requirements, and for 

23 conducting other water resource studies as may be nec24 essary for the benefit of Tribes and Pueblos. 
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1 ‘‘(b) The financial assistance provided pursuant to 

2 subsection (a) of this section shall not be subject to the 

3 cost-sharing requirements of this subtitle, and shall not 

4 be reimbursable or returnable under the Federal reclama5 tion laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and the 

6 Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto). 

7 ‘‘SEC. 229. REAUTHORIZATION OF WATER DESALINATION 

8 ACT OF 1996. 

9 ‘‘(a) Section 8 of Public Law 104–298 (the Water 

10 Desalination Act of 1996, as amended) is amended further 

11 by—

12 ‘‘(1) in paragraph (a) by striking ‘2004’ and in13 serting in lieu thereof ‘2008’; and 

14 ‘‘(2) in paragraph (b) by striking ‘2004’ and in15 serting in lieu thereof ‘2008’. 

16 ‘‘(b) In carrying out the provisions of the Water De17 salination Act of 1996, as amended, the Secretary shall 

18 consult with the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species 

19 Act Collaborative Program, and shall solicit proposals for 

20 research and project development, including demonstra21 tion projects and permanent projects, applicable to resolu22 tion of water supply concerns in the Middle Rio Grande 

23 Basin. 

24 ‘‘SEC. 230. STATE WATER LAW AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS. 

25 ‘‘Nothing in this subtitle—
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1 ‘‘(1) preempts any State water law or any inter2 state compact; 

3 ‘‘(2) affects any litigation concerning the enti4 tlement to, or lack of entitlement to, water that is 

5 pending as of the date of enactment of this section; 

6 ‘‘(3) expands, alters, or otherwise affects the 

7 existence or scope of any water right of any indi8 vidual (except to the extent that the individual 

9 agrees otherwise under the Program); or 

10 ‘‘(4) authorizes or entitles the Federal Govern11 ment to hold or purchase any water right. 

12 ‘‘SEC. 231. PROTECTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS. 

13 ‘‘(a) WILLING SELLERS AND LESSORS.—The Sec14 retary may enter into an agreement for the sale or lease 

15 of water pursuant to this subtitle only if each eligible enti16 ty that is a party to the agreement is a willing seller or 

17 willing lessor. 

18 ‘‘(b) PROPERTY RIGHTS.—Nothing in this subtitle 

19 authorizes the condemnation of private property. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 232. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 ‘‘(a) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated 

22 such sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions 

23 of this subtitle. 

24 ‘‘(b) The Federal share of costs associated with the 

25 studies authorized by paragraph (c) under the heading 
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1 ‘RIO GRANDE BASIN’ in section 203 shall not be reim2 bursable or returnable under the Federal reclamation laws 

3 (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and the Acts amend4 atory thereof and supplementary thereto). The Federal 

5 share of costs associated with the administration and im6 plementation of the water supply stabilization program au7 thorized in section 224 shall not be reimbursable or re8 turnable under the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 

9 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and the Acts amendatory thereof 

10 and supplementary thereto).’’.

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