I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8166 

To support surface and groundwater storage and supporting projects in 

Reclamation States, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 

Mr. COX of California (for himself, Mr. COSTA, and Mr. GARAMENDI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To support surface and groundwater storage and supporting 

projects in Reclamation States, 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 ‘‘Western Water Stor5 age Infrastructure Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SURFACE AND GROUNDWATER STORAGE AND SUP7 PORTING PROJECTS. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON2 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con3 gress’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Appropriations of 

5 the House of Representatives; and 

6 (B) the Committee on Natural Resources 

7 of the House of Representatives. 

8 (C) the Committee on Appropriations of 

9 the Senate; 

10 (D) the Committee on Energy and Natural 

11 Resources of the Senate; 

12 (2) DESIGN; STUDY.—The terms ‘‘design’’ and 

13 ‘‘study’’ include any design, permitting, materials 

14 engineering or testing, surveying, or preconstruction 

15 activity relating to a water storage facility. 

16 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti17 ty’’ means— 

18 (A) any State, political subdivision of a 

19 State, department of a State, or public agency 

20 organized pursuant to State law; 

21 (B) an Indian tribe (as defined in section 

22 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu23 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)) or an 

24 entity controlled by an Indian tribe; 

25 (C) a water users’ association; 


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1 (D) an agency established by an interstate 

2 compact; or 

3 (E) an agency established under State law 

4 for the joint exercise of powers. 

5 (4) FEDERALLY OWNED STORAGE PROJECT.— 

6 The term ‘‘federally owned storage project’’ means 

7 any project in a Reclamation State— 

8 (A) that involves the construction, expan9 sion, upgrade, or capital repair of— 

10 (i) a surface or groundwater storage 

11 facility; or 

12 (ii) a facility conveying water to or 

13 from surface or groundwater storage; 

14 (B) to which the United States holds title; 

15 and 

16 (C) that was authorized to be constructed, 

17 operated, and maintained pursuant to— 

18 (i) the Reclamation laws; or 

19 (ii) the Act of August 11, 1939 (com20 monly known as the ‘‘Water Conservation 

21 and Utilization Act’’) (16 U.S.C. 590y et 

22 seq.). 

23 (5) NON-FEDERAL STORAGE PROJECT.—The 

24 term ‘‘non-Federal storage project’’ means any facil25 ity or project in a Reclamation State that— 


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1 (A) involves the construction, expansion, 

2 upgrade, or capital repair by an eligible entity 

3 of— 

4 (i) a surface or groundwater storage 

5 project to which the United States does 

6 not hold title; or 

7 (ii) a facility conveying water to or 

8 from surface or groundwater storage to 

9 which the United States does not hold 

10 title; and 

11 (B) the construction, expansion, upgrade, 

12 or capital repair of such facility or project pro13 vides a Federal benefit in accordance with Rec14 lamation laws (including regulations). 

15 (6) RECLAMATION LAWS.—The term ‘‘Reclama16 tion laws’’ means Federal Reclamation law (the Act 

17 of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388, chapter 1093), and 

18 Acts supplemental to and amendatory of that Act. 

19 (7) RECLAMATION STATE.—The term ‘‘Rec20 lamation State’’ has the meaning given the term in 

21 section 4014 of the Water Infrastructure Improve22 ments for the Nation Act (43 U.S.C. 390b note; 

23 Public Law 114–322). 

24 (8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

25 the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 (b) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary may provide 

2 a grant under this section to an eligible entity to carry 

3 out, within a Reclamation State— 

4 (1) a federally owned storage project in accord5 ance with subsection (c); or 

6 (2) a non-Federal storage project in accordance 

7 with subsection (d). 

8 (c) FEDERALLY OWNED STORAGE PROJECTS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements 

10 of this section, on request of an eligible entity, the 

11 Secretary may negotiate and enter into an agree12 ment on behalf of the United States for the design, 

13 study, construction, expansion, upgrade, or capital 

14 repair of a federally owned storage project in an 

15 amount equal to not more than 50 percent of the 

16 total cost of the federally owned storage project. 

17 (2) CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION

18 FUNDING.—The construction of a federally owned 

19 storage project that is the subject of an agreement 

20 under this section shall not commence until the Sec21 retary— 

22 (A) determines that— 

23 (i) the federally owned storage project 

24 is feasible in accordance with the Reclama25 tion laws; 


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1 (ii) the federally owned storage 

2 project provides a Federal benefit in ac3 cordance with the Reclamation laws; and 

4 (iii) in return for the Federal cost5 share investment, not less than a propor6 tionate share of the benefits of the feder7 ally owned storage project are Federal ben8 efits, including water supplies dedicated to 

9 specific purposes, such as water quality im10 provements or fish and wildlife protection 

11 and restoration, including a wildlife refuge; 

12 and 

13 (B) secures an agreement providing such 

14 funding as is necessary to pay the non-Federal 

15 share of the capital costs of the federally owned 

16 storage project. 

17 (3) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall sub18 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 

19 written notification that an agreement that satisfies 

20 the requirements in paragraph (2)(B) has been se21 cured not later than 30 days after the agreement is 

22 secured. 

23 (4) EXPANSION OR UPGRADE.—The Secretary 

24 shall require, as a condition for design, study, or any 


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1 other participation in the expansion or upgrade of a 

2 federally owned storage project, the agreement of— 

3 (A) if applicable, any entity that has an 

4 existing water service contract or repayment 

5 contract for more than 60 percent of the capac6 ity or yield of the federally owned storage 

7 project, that the expansion will not adversely af8 fect any right or interest of the entity under the 

9 water service contract or repayment contract, 

10 as applicable; and 

11 (B) if applicable, a non-Federal entity 

12 that, pursuant to a formal operations and main13 tenance transfer contract or other legal agree14 ment with the Secretary carries out the oper15 ations and maintenance of the federally owned 

16 storage project. 

17 (d) NON-FEDERAL STORAGE PROJECTS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the requirements 

19 of this section, the Secretary may participate in the 

20 design, study, construction, expansion, upgrade, or 

21 capital repair of a non-Federal storage project in an 

22 amount equal to not more than 25 percent of the 

23 total cost of the non-Federal storage project. 

24 (2) CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL DESIGN AND

25 STUDY FUNDING.—The Secretary shall only particiVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8166.IH H8166

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1 pate in the design or study of a non-Federal storage 

2 project under this section if— 

3 (A) the Governor, political subdivision, de4 partment, or public agency of the State in 

5 which the non-Federal storage project is located 

6 supports Federal funding of the non-Federal 

7 storage project; and 

8 (B) the Secretary has identified the poten9 tial for Federal benefit sufficient to proceed. 

10 (3) CONDITIONS FOR FEDERAL CONSTRUCTION, 

11 EXPANSION, UPGRADE, OR CAPITAL REPAIR FUND12 ING.—Participation by the Secretary in the con13 struction, expansion, upgrade, or capital repair of a 

14 non-Federal storage project under this section shall 

15 be by negotiated agreement between the United 

16 States and the applicable non-Federal entity, and 

17 shall not occur unless— 

18 (A) the Governor, political subdivision, de19 partment, or public agency of the State in 

20 which the non-Federal storage project is located 

21 supports Federal funding for the project; and 

22 (B) the applicable eligible entity deter23 mines, and the Secretary concurs, that— 

24 (i) the non-Federal storage project is 

25 technically and financially feasible in acVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8166.IH H8166

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1 cordance with guidelines established by the 

2 Secretary; 

3 (ii) the non-Federal storage project 

4 provides a Federal benefit in accordance 

5 with the Reclamation laws; 

6 (iii) in return for the Federal cost7 share investment, not less than a propor8 tionate share of the benefits of the non9 Federal storage project are Federal bene10 fits, including water supplies dedicated to 

11 specific purposes, such as water quality im12 provements or fish and wildlife protection 

13 and restoration, including a wildlife refuge; 

14 and 

15 (iv) each entity participating in the 

16 non-Federal project is financially capable 

17 of funding its proportionate share of the 

18 non-Federal share of the project costs. 

19 (C) Not less than $10,000,000 of the fund20 ing identified in subsection (g) shall be allo21 cated to non-Federal storage projects that fur22 ther the Department of the Interior’s priority of 

23 sustainably developing natural resources and 

24 are— 


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1 (i) included in the Bureau of Rec2 lamation’s 2015 Water Management Goal 

3 Investment Strategy Final Report; 

4 (ii) capable of providing water to a 

5 Federal wildlife refuge; 

6 (iii) equipped with an approved fish 

7 screen; and 

8 (iv) have both conveyance and recir9 culation benefits. 

10 (4) NOTIFICATION.—The Secretary shall sub11 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress a 

12 written notification that an agreement that satisfies 

13 the requirements in paragraph (2) has been secured 

14 not later than 30 days after the agreement is se15 cured.). 

16 (5) INFORMATION.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—In participating in a 

18 non-Federal storage project under this section, 

19 the Secretary— 

20 (i) shall— 

21 (I) generally, rely on reports pre22 pared by an eligible entity partici23 pating in the non-Federal storage 

24 project, including feasibility or equiva25 lent studies, environmental analyses, 


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1 and other pertinent reports and anal2 yses; but 

3 (II) retain responsibility for mak4 ing the independent determinations 

5 described in paragraphs (2) and (3); 

6 and 

7 (ii) may prepare studies supple8 mentary to the studies described in clause 

9 (i)(I), on request of the eligible entity par10 ticipating in the non-Federal storage 

11 project. 

12 (B) GUIDELINES.— 

13 (i) DRAFT GUIDELINES.—Not later 

14 than 180 days after the date of the enact15 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall issue 

16 draft guidelines for determining whether a 

17 non-Federal storage project is financially 

18 feasible. The guidelines shall be consistent 

19 with and meet the requirements in title 

20 XVI of Public Law 102–575 for a feasi21 bility study report, including the economic 

22 analysis contained in the Reclamation 

23 Manual Directive & Standard Title XVI 

24 Water Reclamation and Reuse Program 


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1 Feasibility Study Review Process (WTR 

2 11–01), subject to— 

3 (I) any additional requirements 

4 necessary to provide sufficient infor5 mation for making the independent 

6 determinations described in para7 graphs (2) and (3); and 

8 (II) the condition that the Bu9 reau of Reclamation shall not bear re10 sponsibility for the technical adequacy 

11 of any design, study, cost estimate, 

12 construction, expansion, upgrade, or 

13 capital repair relating to a non-Fed14 eral storage project. 

15 (ii) FINAL GUIDELINES.—Not later 

16 than 1 year after the date of the enact17 ment of this Act, the Secretary shall final18 ize the guidelines issued under clause (i). 

19 (e) RIGHTS TO USE CAPACITY.— 

20 (1) FEDERALLY OWNED STORAGE PROJECT.— 

21 The right to use the capacity of a federally owned 

22 storage project that was designed, studied, con23 structed, expanded, upgraded, or repaired under this 

24 Act shall be allocated in such manner as may be mu25 tually agreed to by the Secretary and the party or 


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1 parties to the agreement executed pursuant to sub2 section (c)(1). 

3 (2) NON-FEDERAL STORAGE PROJECT.—The 

4 right to use the capacity of a non-Federal storage 

5 project that was designed, studied, constructed, ex6 panded, upgraded, or repaired under this Act shall 

7 be allocated in such manner as may be mutually 

8 agreed to by the Secretary and the relevant eligible 

9 entity or entities. 

10 (f) FEDERAL BENEFITS.—In making a determina11 tion relating to Federal benefits under this Act, the Sec12 retary may consider any benefit realized from the exist13 ence of operational flexibility to optimize the achievement 

14 of any authorized project purpose (whether reimbursable 

15 or nonreimbursable), including through the coordinated 

16 management of Federal and non-Federal facilities. 

17 (g) FUNDING.— 

18 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec20 retary to carry out this section $800,000,000 for the 

21 period of fiscal years 2021 through 2025. 

22 (2) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL INITIALLY RE23 QUIRED.— 

24 (A) DESIGN AND STUDY FUNDING.—A fed25 erally owned storage project or a non-Federal 


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1 storage project shall only receive initial design 

2 or study funding under this Act if the project 

3 is designated funding by name in an Act of ap4 propriation. 

5 (B) CONSTRUCTION FUNDING.—A feder6 ally owned storage project or a non-Federal 

7 storage project shall only receive initial con8 struction funding under this Act if the project 

9 is designated funding by name in an Act of ap10 propriations. 

11 (C) RECLAMATION RECOMMENDATIONS.— 

12 (i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to clause 

13 (ii), the Secretary shall submit to the ap14 propriate committees of Congress rec15 ommendations regarding the initial award 

16 of design and study funding, and of con17 struction funding, for each federally owned 

18 storage project and non-Federal storage 

19 project subject to consideration under sub20 paragraphs (A) and (B). 

21 (ii) REQUIREMENT.—The Secretary 

22 shall confer with the appropriate commit23 tees of Congress before submitting the rec24 ommendations under clause (i). 

25 (3) SUBSEQUENT FUNDING AWARDS.— 


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1 (A) DESIGN AND STUDY FUNDING.—After 

2 a federally owned storage project or a non-Fed3 eral storage project receives an initial award of 

4 design or study funding under paragraph (2), 

5 additional design or study funding for that 

6 project shall not be subject to paragraph (2). 

7 (B) CONSTRUCTION FUNDING.—After a 

8 federally owned storage project or a non-Fed9 eral storage project receives an initial award of 

10 construction funding under paragraph (2), ad11 ditional construction funding for that project 

12 shall not be subject to paragraph (2). 

13 (4) PRELIMINARY STUDIES.—Of the amounts 

14 made available under paragraph (1), not more than 

15 25 percent shall be provided for appraisal studies, 

16 feasibility studies, or other preliminary studies. 

17 (5) WIIN ACT STORAGE FUNDING.— 

18 (A) APPROPRIATIONS.—Each federally 

19 owned storage project and non-Federal storage 

20 project shall be eligible to receive any amounts 

21 made available pursuant to section 4007(h) of 

22 the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the 

23 Nation Act (43 U.S.C. 390b note; Public Law 

24 114–322) (as in effect on the day before the 


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1 date of the enactment of this Act), in accord2 ance with paragraphs (2) and (3). 

3 (B) INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS.— 

4 (i) FEDERALLY OWNED STORAGE

5 PROJECTS.—If the Secretary determines 

6 that a federally owned storage project is el7 igible for funding under section 4007(b) of 

8 the Water Infrastructure Improvements for 

9 the Nation Act (43 U.S.C. 390b note; Pub10 lic Law 114–322), the federally owned 

11 storage project shall remain eligible for 

12 funding under subsection (c). 

13 (ii) NON-FEDERAL STORAGE

14 PROJECTS.—If the Secretary determines 

15 that a non-Federal storage project is eligi16 ble for funding as a State-led storage 

17 project under section 4007(c) the Water 

18 Infrastructure Improvements for the Na19 tion Act (43 U.S.C. 390b note; Public Law 

20 114–322), the non-Federal storage project 

21 shall remain eligible for funding under sub22 section (d). 

23 (h) CONSISTENCY WITH STATE LAW.—Nothing in 

24 this section preempts or modifies any obligation of the 


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1 United States or an eligible entity to act in accordance 

2 with applicable State law. 

3 SEC. 3. DELTA OPERATIONS. 

4 Section 4013 of the Water Infrastructure Improve5 ments for the Nation Act (130 Stat. 1883) is amended— 

6 (1) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘5’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘13’’; 

8 (2) in paragraph (1)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘10’’ and inserting ‘‘18’’; 

10 and 

11 (B) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 

12 (3) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘; and (3) 

13 section 4007, which shall expire 5 years after the 

14 date of its enactment’’ before the final period. 

15 SEC. 4. CALFED. 

16 (a) PARTNERSHIP AND AGREEMENTS RELATING TO

17 CERTAIN WATER STORAGE PROJECTS.—The Secretary of 

18 the Interior may enter into a partnership or other agree19 ment relating to a water storage project described in sec20 tion 103 of the Calfed Bay-Delta Authorization Act (Pub21 lic Law 108–361; 118 Stat. 1683) with a local joint-pow22 ers authority established pursuant to State law by 1 or 

23 more irrigation districts or other local water districts or 

24 units of local government within the applicable hydrologic 

25 region, to advance the project. 


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1 (b) REAUTHORIZATION.—Title I of the Calfed Bay2 Delta Authorization Act (Public Law 108–361; 118 Stat. 

3 1681; 123 Stat. 2860; 128 Stat. 164; 128 Stat. 2312; 129 

4 Stat. 2407; 130 Stat. 1866) is amended by striking 

5 ‘‘2020’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘2024’’. 

6 SEC. 5. SAVINGS CLAUSE. 

7 Nothing in this Act or an amendment made by this 

8 Act shall be interpreted or implemented in a manner 

9 that— 

10 (1) preempts or modifies any obligation of the 

11 United States or an eligible entity under Federal law 

12 to act in accordance with applicable State law, in13 cluding applicable State water law; or 

14 (2) affects or modifies any obligation under ap15 plicable Federal environmental law. 

Æ 


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