II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1997 

To authorize the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority System. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 6, 2014 

Mr. BAUCUS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority 

System. 

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 ‘‘Dry-Redwater Re5 gional Water Authority System Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

7 The purpose of this Act is to ensure a safe and ade8 quate municipal, rural, and industrial water supply for the 

9 citizens of— 

10 (1) Dawson, Garfield, McCone, Prairie, and 

11 Richland Counties of the State; and 


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1 (2) McKenzie County, North Dakota. 

2 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

3 In this Act: 

4 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis5 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Western 

6 Area Power Administration. 

7 (2) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ 

8 means— 

9 (A) the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au10 thority, which is a publicly owned nonprofit 

11 water authority formed in accordance with 

12 Mont. Code Ann. § 75–6–302 (2007); and 

13 (B) any nonprofit successor entity. 

14 (3) INTEGRATED SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘inte15 grated system’’ means the transmission system 

16 owned by the Western Area Power Administration 

17 Basin Electric Power District and the Heartland 

18 Consumers Power District. 

19 (4) NON-FEDERAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.— 

20 The term ‘‘non-Federal distribution system’’ means 

21 a non-Federal utility that provides electricity to the 

22 counties covered by the Water System. 

23 (5) PICK-SLOAN PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Pick24 Sloan program’’ means the Pick-Sloan Missouri 

25 River Basin Program (authorized by section 9 of the 


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1 Act of December 22, 1944 (commonly known as the 

2 ‘‘Flood Control Act of 1944’’) (58 Stat. 891, chapter 

3 665)). 

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

5 the Secretary of the Interior. 

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

7 of Montana. 

8 (8) WATER SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Water Sys9 tem’’ means the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au10 thority System authorized under section 4 with a 

11 project service area that includes— 

12 (A) the Garfield and McCone Counties of 

13 the State; 

14 (B) the area west of the Yellowstone River 

15 in Dawson and Richland Counties of the State; 

16 (C) Township 15N (including the area 

17 north of the Township) in Prairie County of the 

18 State; and 

19 (D) the portion of McKenzie County, 

20 North Dakota that includes all land that is lo21 cated west of the Yellowstone River in the State 

22 of North Dakota. 

23 SEC. 4. DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AUTHORITY SYS24 TEM. 

25 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary, acting 

2 through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Rec3 lamation, determines that the project is feasible, the 

4 Secretary is authorized to carry out the project enti5 tled ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority Sys6 tem’’ in a manner that is substantially in accordance 

7 with the plans, and subject to the conditions, de8 scribed in the ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional Water Sys9 tem Feasibility Study’’, including revisions of the 

10 study, which received funding from the Bureau of 

11 Reclamation on September 1, 2010, and is to be 

12 completed in accordance with section 106(a) of the 

13 Rural Water Supply Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 

14 2405(a)). 

15 (2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The Secretary 

16 shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the 

17 Authority to provide Federal assistance for the plan18 ning, design, and construction of the Water System. 

19 (b) COST SHARING.— 

20 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of 

22 the costs relating to the planning, design, and 

23 construction of the Water System shall not ex24 ceed— 


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1 (i) 75 percent of the total cost of the 

2 Water System; or 

3 (ii) such other lesser amount as may 

4 be determined by the Secretary, acting 

5 through the Commissioner of Reclamation 

6 in a feasibility report. 

7 (B) LIMITATION.—Amounts made avail8 able under subparagraph (A) shall not be re9 turnable or reimbursable under the reclamation 

10 laws. 

11 (2) USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara13 graph (B), Federal funds made available to 

14 carry out this section may be used for— 

15 (i) facilities relating to— 

16 (I) water intake; 

17 (II) water pumping; 

18 (III) water treatment; and 

19 (IV) water storage; 

20 (ii) transmission pipelines and pump21 ing stations; 

22 (iii) appurtenant buildings, mainte23 nance equipment, and access roads; 


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1 (iv) any interconnection facility that 

2 connects a pipeline of the Water System to 

3 a pipeline of a public water system; 

4 (v) distribution, pumping, and storage 

5 facilities that— 

6 (I) serve the needs of citizens 

7 who use public water systems; 

8 (II) are in existence on the date 

9 of enactment of this Act; and 

10 (III) may be purchased, im11 proved, and repaired in accordance 

12 with a cooperative agreement entered 

13 into by the Secretary under subsection 

14 (a)(2); 

15 (vi) electrical power transmission and 

16 distribution facilities required for the oper17 ation and maintenance of the Water Sys18 tem; 

19 (vii) any other facility or service re20 quired for the development of a rural water 

21 distribution system, as determined by the 

22 Secretary; and 

23 (viii) any property or property right 

24 required for the construction or operation 

25 of a facility described in this subsection. 


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1 (B) LIMITATION.—Federal funds made 

2 available to carry out this section shall not be 

3 used for the operation, maintenance, or replace4 ment of the Water System. 

5 (c) TITLE.—Title to the Water System shall be held 

6 by the Authority. 

7 SEC. 5. USE OF POWER FROM PICK-SLOAN PROGRAM. 

8 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that McCone and 

9 Garfield Counties in the State were designated as impact 

10 counties during the period in which the Fort Peck Dam 

11 was constructed, and as such, were to receive impact miti12 gation benefits in accordance with the Pick-Sloan pro13 gram. 

14 (b) AVAILABILITY OF POWER.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

16 the Administrator shall make available to the Water 

System a quantity of power required, of up to 11 17 ⁄2

18 megawatt capacity, to meet the pumping and inci19 dental operation requirements of the Water System 

20 during the period beginning on May 1 and ending on 

21 October 31 of each year— 

22 (A) from the water intake facilities; and 

23 (B) through all pumping stations, water 

24 treatment facilities, reservoirs, storage tanks, 

25 and pipelines up to the point of delivery of 


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1 water by the water supply system to all storage 

2 reservoirs and tanks and each entity that dis3 tributes water at retail to individual users. 

4 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—The Water System shall be 

5 eligible to receive power under paragraph (1) if the 

6 Water System— 

7 (A) operates on a not-for-profit basis; and 

8 (B) is constructed pursuant to a coopera9 tive agreement entered into by the Secretary 

10 under section 4(a)(2). 

11 (3) RATE.—The Administrator shall establish 

12 the cost of the power described in paragraph (1) at 

13 the firm power rate. 

14 (4) ADDITIONAL POWER.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—If power, in addition to 

16 that made available to the Water System under 

17 paragraph (1), is necessary to meet the pump18 ing requirements of the Authority, the Adminis19 trator may purchase the necessary additional 

20 power at the best available rate. 

21 (B) REIMBURSEMENT.—The cost of pur22 chasing additional power shall be reimbursed to 

23 the Administrator by the Authority. 

24 (5) RESPONSIBILITY FOR POWER CHARGES.— 

25 The Authority shall be responsible for the payment 


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1 of the power charge described in paragraph (4) and 

2 non-Federal delivery costs described in paragraph 

3 (6). 

4 (6) TRANSMISSION ARRANGEMENTS.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Water System 

6 shall be responsible for all non-Federal trans7 mission and distribution system delivery and 

8 service arrangements. 

9 (B) UPGRADES.—The Water System shall 

10 be responsible for funding any transmission up11 grades, if required, to the integrated system 

12 necessary to deliver power to the Water System. 

13 (7) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 

14 exempts the Water System from the requirements of 

15 the Rural Water Supply Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 

16 2401 et seq.). 

17 SEC. 6. WATER RIGHTS. 

18 Nothing in this Act— 

19 (1) preempts or affects any State water law; or 

20 (2) affects any authority of a State, as in effect 

21 on the date of enactment of this Act, to manage 

22 water resources within that State. 

23 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

24 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

25 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out the planVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:34 Feb 07, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1997.IS S1997

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1 ning, design, and construction of the Water System such 

2 sums as are necessary, substantially in accordance with 

3 the cost estimate set forth in the feasibility study de4 scribed in section 4(a). 

5 (b) COST INDEXING.—The amount authorized to be 

6 appropriated under subsection (a) may be increased or de7 creased in accordance with ordinary fluctuations in devel8 opment costs incurred after January 1, 2008, as indicated 

9 by any available engineering cost indices applicable to con10 struction activities that are similar to the construction of 

11 the Water System. 

Æ 


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