59–010 

Calendar No. 253 

110TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 110–112 

NEW MEXICO AQUIFER ASSESSMENT ACT OF 2007 

JUNE 28, 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. 324] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 324) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to 

conduct a study of water resources in the State of New Mexico, 

having considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 

amendment and recommends that the bill do pass. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 324 is to direct the Secretary of the Interior 

to conduct a study of water resources in the State of New Mexico. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

Over the past several years, New Mexico has been in and out of 

drought conditions, which has caused the water level in many of 

its reservoirs to drop to dangerously low levels. In addition, the 

groundwater wells of many municipalities in the State have run 

dry. New Mexico is unique in its reliance on groundwater. It has 

a history of irrigation from artesian wells in the eastern part of the 

State. Moreover, approximately 90 percent of New Mexicans depend on groundwater for drinking water purposes, 77 percent of 

which obtain their supply exclusively from groundwater. While 

groundwater supplies throughout the State are coming under increasing demand due to drought, contamination, historical use, and 

increasing population, not enough is known about these resources 

to make sound decisions regarding their ongoing and future use. In 

particular, there is a strong need to better understand aquifer recharge rates, water quality, susceptibility to contamination, and 

the interaction between surface water and groundwater flows. 


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LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 324 was introduced on January 17, 2007 by Senator Domenici 

for himself and Senator Bingaman, and referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Natural Resources. The Water and Power Subcommittee held a hearing on S. 324 on April 25, 2007. At the business meeting on May 23, 2007, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 324 favorably reported. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an 

open business meeting on May 23, 2007, by voice vote of a quorum 

present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 324. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1 provides the short title. 

Section 2(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 

the Director of the United States Geological Survey in coordination 

with the State of New Mexico and other appropriate entities to conduct a study of water resources in the State, including a survey of 

groundwater resources, and characterization of aquifer geology. 

Section 2(b) directs that the study shall include the Estancia 

Basin, Salt Basin, Tularosa Basin, Hueco Basin, and middle Rio 

Grande Basin in the State. 

Section 2(c) requires that not later than 2 years after the date 

of enactment, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on 

Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report that 

describes the results of the study. 

Section 2(d) authorizes the appropriation of necessary sums to 

carry out the Act. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of costs of this measure has been provided 

by the Congressional Budget Office. 

JUNE 6, 2007. 

Hon. JEFF BINGAMAN, 

Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 

U.S. Senate, Washington, DC. 

DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 324, the New Mexico Aquifer Assessment Act of 2007. 

If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be pleased 

to provide them. The CBO staff contact are Tyler Kruzich and 

David Reynolds. 

Sincerely, 

PETER R. ORSZAG. 

Enclosure. 

S. 324—New Mexico Aquifer Assessment Act of 2007 

Summary: S. 324 would require the United States Geological 

Survey (USGS) to conduct a study of water resources in five New 

Mexico ground water basins. Assuming appropriation of the necessary funds, CBO estimates that conducting those studies would 


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cost $15 million over the 2008–2012 period. Enacting S. 324 would 

not affect direct spending or revenues. 

The legislation 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. 

Estimated cost to the federal government: The estimated budgetary impact of S. 324 is shown in the following table. The costs 

of this legislation would fall within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment). 

By fiscal year, in millions of dollars— 

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 

CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION 

Estimated Authorization Level ................................................................................ 6 6 3 0 0 

Estimated Outlays ................................................................................................... 4 4 4 2 1 

Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 324 

will be enacted before the end of 2007 and that the necessary 

amounts will be appropriated for each year. The bill would require 

USGS to study water resources in five separate New Mexico 

ground water basins. Based on information provided by the USGS, 

CBO expects the studies would begin over the next three years and 

be completed within five years. Using information provided by the 

agency, CBO estimates that carrying out the proposed studies 

would cost $15 million over the 2008–2012 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts. 

Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 324 contains no 

intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined by UMRA 

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

Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Tyler Kruzich and David 

Reynolds; Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: Lisa 

Ramirez-Branum; 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. 324. The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing Government-established standards or significant responsibilities on private individuals and business. 

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. 324. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at the 

Subcommittee hearing on S. 324 follows: 


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STATEMENT OF ROBERT M. HIRSCH, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

FOR WATER, UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, U.S. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I am Dr. 

Robert M. Hirsch, Associate Director for Water for the U.S. 

Geological Survey (USGS). I thank you for the opportunity 

to provide the views of the Department of the Interior (Department) on S. 324, the ‘‘New Mexico Aquifer Assessment 

Act of 2007.’’

The Department agrees that the goals of the bill are 

commendable and the needs that could be addressed are 

real; however, we have concerns with this bill, including 

the availability of funding for the work proposed in the 

context of overall funding for the Administration’s priorities. To ensure appropriate flexibility in budgetary management, the Administration recommends that this bill be 

amended to authorize rather than require the study within 

a statutorily prescribed timeframe. We would like to work 

with the committee to revise the bill to address these 

issues. 

S. 324, THE ‘‘NEW MEXICO AQUIFER ASSESSMENT ACT OF 2007’’

S. 324 directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting 

through the Director of the USGS, to conduct a study on 

ground-water resources in the State of New Mexico. The 

role identified for the Department in this bill is consistent 

with the leadership role of USGS in monitoring and assessing ground-water resources. 

As the Nation’s largest water, earth, and biological 

science and civilian mapping agency, the USGS conducts 

the most extensive ground-water and surface-water investigations in the Nation in conjunction with State and local 

partners. The USGS New Mexico Water Science Center 

currently operates 203 streamflow stations and routinely 

measures ground-water levels at 2573 well sites through 

cooperative programs with several Federal, State, Tribal, 

and local 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, upper Rio Hondo, and Middle Rio 

Grande Basins; planning geohydrologic studies in the Salt 

Basin; and evaluating water quality of the Rio Grande and 

Rio Chama. In support of all water agencies within New 

Mexico, USGS technical specialists actively participate on 

work groups and committees addressing critical New Mexico water issues. Currently, personnel are involved in the 

Technical Subcommittee of the Gila-San Francisco Coordinating Committee, the Espan ̃ ola Basin Technical Advisory 

Group, and the Upper Rio Grande Water Operations Model 

Work Group. 

The USGS has a long history of conducting groundwater assessments on a regional scale. In the 1980s, 25 reVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:08 Jun 30, 2007 Jkt 059010 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6659 Sfmt 6969 E:\HR\OC\SR112.XXX SR112

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gional aquifer systems were studied in detail as part of the 

Regional Aquifer-System Analysis (RASA) Program, including the Southwest Alluvial basins, High Plains aquifer, and San Juan Basin in New Mexico. More recently, 

the Middle Rio Grande Basin was studied extensively for 

6 years as a partnership among Federal, State, and local 

sources. 

Congress directed the USGS in their fiscal year (FY) 

2002 appropriation to ‘‘prepare a report to describe the 

scope and magnitude of the efforts needed to provide periodic assessments of the status and trends in the availability and use of freshwater resources.’’ We are midway 

through a pilot project in the Great Lakes region and a 

small effort in the Lower Colorado River basin to develop 

approaches for national assessment that began in FY 2005 

as part of the USGS Ground-Water Resources Program. 

The approaches developed to date could be applied to New 

Mexico and nationwide. However, we note that a comprehensive study of a major aquifer system commonly 

takes 4 or more years to complete; and thus, the 2-year 

time frame for completing the overall study proposed by S. 

324 would yield limited results. 

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the USGS concurs with the goals of S. 

324. The proposed effort would help ensure long-term 

water supplies for the citizens, businesses, industry, and 

natural features of New Mexico, and the expertise of 

USGS is highly relevant to the tasks contemplated by the 

legislation. However, we are concerned with the funding 

requirements that accompany S. 324. We note that there 

are no funds in this year’s budget or the President’s FY 

2008 budget to implement the legislation, and any future 

funding requests would have to compete with other priority projects for funds. We also note there are some ongoing efforts to address the goals of the Act. Finally, individual major aquifer studies commonly require 4 or more 

years to complete, and thus, the 2-year time frame for 

completing the overall study proposed by S. 324 would 

yield limited results. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to 

present this testimony. I will be pleased to respond to 

questions you and other Members of the Committee may 

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. 324, as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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