I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5073 

To authorize the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority System and the 

Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System in the States of Montana and 

North Dakota, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 20, 2018 

Mr. GIANFORTE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority 

System and the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System 

in the States of Montana and North Dakota, 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 ‘‘Clean Water for Rural 

5 Communities Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

2 The purpose of this Act is to ensure a safe and ade3 quate municipal, rural, and industrial water supply for the 

4 citizens of— 

5 (1) Dawson, Garfield, McCone, Prairie, Rich6 land, Judith Basin, Wheatland, Golden Valley, Fer7 gus, Yellowstone, and Musselshell Counties in the 

8 State of Montana; and 

9 (2) McKenzie County, North Dakota. 

10 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

11 In this Act: 

12 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis13 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Western 

14 Area Power Administration. 

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

16 means— 

17 (A) in the case of the Dry-Redwater Re18 gional Water Authority System— 

19 (i) the Dry-Redwater Regional Water 

20 Authority, which is a publicly owned non21 profit water authority formed in accord22 ance with Mont. Code Ann. § 75–6–302 

23 (2007); and 

24 (ii) any nonprofit successor entity to 

25 the Authority described in clause (i); and 


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1 (B) in the case of the Musselshell-Judith 

2 Rural Water System— 

3 (i) the Central Montana Regional 

4 Water Authority, which is a publicly owned 

5 nonprofit water authority formed in ac6 cordance with Mont. Code Ann. § 75–6– 

7 302 (2007); and 

8 (ii) any nonprofit successor entity to 

9 the Authority described in clause (i). 

10 (3) DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AU11 THORITY SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Dry-Redwater Re12 gional Water Authority System’’ means the Dry13 Redwater Regional Water Authority System author14 ized under section 4(a)(1) with a project service area 

15 that includes— 

16 (A) Garfield and McCone Counties in the 

17 State; 

18 (B) the area west of the Yellowstone River 

19 in Dawson and Richland Counties in the State; 

20 (C) T. 15 N. (including the area north of 

21 the Township) in Prairie County in the State; 

22 and 

23 (D) the portion of McKenzie County, 

24 North Dakota, that includes all land that is loVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:27 Feb 27, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5073.IH H5073

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1 cated west of the Yellowstone River in the State 

2 of North Dakota. 

3 (4) INTEGRATED SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘inte4 grated system’’ means the transmission system 

5 owned by the Western Area Power Administration 

6 Basin Electric Power District and the Heartland 

7 Consumers Power District. 

8 (5) MUSSELSHELL-JUDITH RURAL WATER SYS9 TEM.—The term ‘‘Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 

10 System’’ means the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 

11 System authorized under section 4(a)(2) with a 

12 project service area that includes— 

13 (A) Judith Basin, Wheatland, Golden Val14 ley, and Musselshell Counties in the State; 

15 (B) the portion of Yellowstone County in 

16 the State within 2 miles of State Highway 3 

17 and within 4 miles of the county line between 

18 Golden Valley and Yellowstone Counties in the 

19 State, inclusive of the Town of Broadview, 

20 Montana; and 

21 (C) the portion of Fergus County in the 

22 State within 2 miles of U.S. Highway 87 and 

23 within 4 miles of the county line between Fer24 gus and Judith Basin Counties in the State, in25 clusive of the Town of Moore, Montana. 


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1 (6) NON-FEDERAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.— 

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

3 a non-Federal utility that provides electricity to the 

4 counties covered by the Dry-Redwater Regional 

5 Water Authority System. 

6 (7) PICK-SLOAN PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Pick7 Sloan program’’ means the Pick-Sloan Missouri 

8 River Basin Program (authorized by section 9 of the 

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

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

11 665)). 

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

13 the Secretary of the Interior. 

14 (9) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 

15 of Montana. 

16 (10) WATER SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Water Sys17 tem’’ means— 

18 (A) the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au19 thority System; and 

20 (B) the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water 

21 System. 


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1 SEC. 4. DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AUTHORITY SYS2 TEM AND MUSSELSHELL-JUDITH RURAL 

3 WATER SYSTEM. 

4 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary may carry 

5 out— 

6 (1) the project entitled the ‘‘Dry-Redwater Re7 gional Water Authority System’’ in a manner that is 

8 substantially in accordance with the feasibility study 

9 entitled ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional Water System Fea10 sibility Study’’ (including revisions of the study), 

11 which received funding from the Bureau of Reclama12 tion on September 1, 2010; and 

13 (2) the project entitled the ‘‘Musselshell-Judith 

14 Rural Water System’’ in a manner that is substan15 tially in accordance with the feasibility report enti16 tled ‘‘Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System Feasi17 bility Report’’ (including any and all revisions of the 

18 report). 

19 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The Secretary shall 

20 enter into a cooperative agreement with the Authority to 

21 provide Federal assistance for the planning, design, and 

22 construction of the Water Systems. 

23 (c) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 

24 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

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

26 the costs relating to the planning, design, and 


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1 construction of the Water Systems shall not ex2 ceed— 

3 (i) in the case of the Dry-Redwater 

4 Regional Water Authority System— 

5 (I) 75 percent of the total cost of 

6 the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au7 thority System; or 

8 (II) such other lesser amount as 

9 may be determined by the Secretary, 

10 acting through the Commissioner of 

11 Reclamation, in a feasibility report; or 

12 (ii) in the case of the Musselshell-Ju13 dith Rural Water System, 75 percent of 

14 the total cost of the Musselshell-Judith 

15 Rural Water System. 

16 (B) LIMITATION.—Amounts made avail17 able under subparagraph (A) shall not be re18 turnable or reimbursable under the reclamation 

19 laws. 

20 (2) USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.— 

21 (A) GENERAL USES.—Subject to subpara22 graphs (B) and (C), the Water Systems may 

23 use Federal funds made available to carry out 

24 this section for— 

25 (i) facilities relating to— 


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1 (I) water pumping; 

2 (II) water treatment; and 

3 (III) water storage; 

4 (ii) transmission pipelines; 

5 (iii) pumping stations; 

6 (iv) appurtenant buildings, mainte7 nance equipment, and access roads; 

8 (v) any interconnection facility that 

9 connects a pipeline of the Water System to 

10 a pipeline of a public water system; 

11 (vi) electrical power transmission and 

12 distribution facilities required for the oper13 ation and maintenance of the Water Sys14 tem; 

15 (vii) any other facility or service re16 quired for the development of a rural water 

17 distribution system, as determined by the 

18 Secretary; and 

19 (viii) any property or property right 

20 required for the construction or operation 

21 of a facility described in this subsection. 

22 (B) ADDITIONAL USES.—In addition to the 

23 uses described in subparagraph (A)— 

24 (i) the Dry-Redwater Regional Water 

25 Authority System may use Federal funds 


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1 made available to carry out this section 

2 for— 

3 (I) facilities relating to water in4 take; and 

5 (II) distribution, pumping, and 

6 storage facilities that— 

7 (aa) serve the needs of citi8 zens who use public water sys9 tems; 

10 (bb) are in existence on the 

11 date of enactment of this Act; 

12 and 

13 (cc) may be purchased, im14 proved, and repaired in accord15 ance with a cooperative agree16 ment entered into by the Sec17 retary under subsection (b); and 

18 (ii) the Musselshell-Judith Rural 

19 Water System may use Federal funds 

20 made available to carry out this section 

21 for— 

22 (I) facilities relating to— 

23 (aa) water supply wells; and 

24 (bb) distribution pipelines; 

25 and 


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1 (II) control systems. 

2 (C) LIMITATION.—Federal funds made 

3 available to carry out this section shall not be 

4 used for the operation, maintenance, or replace5 ment of the Water Systems. 

6 (D) TITLE.—Title to the Water Systems 

7 shall be held by the Authority. 

8 SEC. 5. USE OF POWER FROM PICK-SLOAN PROGRAM BY 

9 THE DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AU10 THORITY SYSTEM. 

11 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that— 

12 (1) McCone and Garfield Counties in the State 

13 were designated as impact counties during the pe14 riod in which the Fort Peck Dam was constructed; 

15 and 

16 (2) as a result of the designation, the Counties 

17 referred to in paragraph (1) were to receive impact 

18 mitigation benefits in accordance with the Pick19 Sloan program. 

20 (b) AVAILABILITY OF POWER.— 

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

22 the Administrator shall make available to the Dry23 Redwater Regional Water Authority System a quantity of power required, of up to 11 24 ⁄2 megawatt capac25 ity, to meet the pumping and incidental operation 


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1 requirements of the Dry-Redwater Regional Water 

2 Authority System during the period beginning on 

3 May 1 and ending on October 31 of each year— 

4 (A) from the water intake facilities; and 

5 (B) through all pumping stations, water 

6 treatment facilities, reservoirs, storage tanks, 

7 and pipelines up to the point of delivery of 

8 water by the water supply system to all storage 

9 reservoirs and tanks and each entity that dis10 tributes water at retail to individual users. 

11 (2) ELIGIBILITY.—The Dry-Redwater Regional 

12 Water Authority System shall be eligible to receive 

13 power under paragraph (1) if the Dry-Redwater Re14 gional Water Authority System— 

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

16 (B) is constructed pursuant to a coopera17 tive agreement entered into by the Secretary 

18 under section 4(b). 

19 (3) RATE.—The Administrator shall establish 

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

21 the firm power rate. 

22 (4) ADDITIONAL POWER.— 

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

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1 graph (1), is necessary to meet the pumping re2 quirements of the Dry-Redwater Regional 

3 Water Authority, the Administrator may pur4 chase the necessary additional power at the best 

5 available rate. 

6 (B) REIMBURSEMENT.—The cost of pur7 chasing additional power shall be reimbursed to 

8 the Administrator by the Dry-Redwater Re9 gional Water Authority. 

10 (5) RESPONSIBILITY FOR POWER CHARGES.— 

11 The Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority shall 

12 be responsible for the payment of the power charge 

13 described in paragraph (4) and non-Federal delivery 

14 costs described in paragraph (6). 

15 (6) TRANSMISSION ARRANGEMENTS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Dry-Redwater Re17 gional Water Authority System shall be respon18 sible for all non-Federal transmission and dis19 tribution system delivery and service arrange20 ments. 

21 (B) UPGRADES.—The Dry-Redwater Re22 gional Water Authority System shall be respon23 sible for funding any transmission upgrades, if 

24 required, to the integrated system necessary to 


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1 deliver power to the Dry-Redwater Regional 

2 Water Authority System. 

3 SEC. 6. WATER RIGHTS. 

4 Nothing in this Act— 

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

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

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

8 water resources within that State. 

9 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

10 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be ap11 propriated such sums as are necessary to carry out the 

12 planning, design, and construction of the Water Systems, 

13 substantially in accordance with the cost estimate set forth 

14 in the applicable feasibility study or feasibility report de15 scribed in section 4(a). 

16 (b) COST INDEXING.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amount authorized to 

18 be appropriated under subsection (a) may be in19 creased or decreased in accordance with ordinary 

20 fluctuations in development costs incurred after the 

21 applicable date specified in paragraph (2), as indi22 cated by any available engineering cost indices appli23 cable to construction activities that are similar to 

24 the construction of the Water Systems. 


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1 (2) APPLICABLE DATES.—The date referred to 

2 in paragraph (1) is— 

3 (A) in the case of the Dry-Redwater Re4 gional Water Authority System, January 1, 

5 2008; and 

6 (B) in the case of the Musselshell-Judith 

7 Rural Water Authority System, November 1, 

8 2014. 

Æ 


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