I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 437 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of 

Reclamation to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Madera 

Irrigation District for purposes of supporting the Madera Water Supply 

Enhancement Project. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 9, 2009 

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

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 

the Bureau of Reclamation to enter into a cooperative 

agreement with the Madera Irrigation District for purposes of supporting the Madera Water Supply Enhancement Project. 

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 ‘‘Madera Water Supply 

5 Enhancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For the purposes of this Act: 


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1 (1) DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘District’’ means the 

2 Madera Irrigation District, Madera, California. 

3 (2) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Project’’ means the 

4 Madera Water Supply Enhancement Project, a 

5 groundwater bank on the 13,646-acre Madera Ranch 

6 in Madera, California, owned, operated, maintained, 

7 and managed by the District that will plan, design, 

8 and construct recharge, recovery, and delivery sys9 tems able to store up to 250,000 acre-feet of water 

10 and recover up to 55,000 acre-feet of water per year, 

11 as substantially described in the California Environ12 mental Quality Act, Final Environmental Impact 

13 Report for the Madera Irrigation District Water 

14 Supply Enhancement Project, September 2005. 

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

16 the Secretary of the United States Department of 

17 the Interior. 

18 (4) TOTAL COST.—The term ‘‘total cost’’means 

19 all reasonable costs, such as the planning, design, 

20 permitting, and construction of the Project and the 

21 acquisition costs of lands used or acquired by the 

22 District for the Project. 

23 SEC. 3. PROJECT FEASIBILITY. 

24 (a) PROJECT FEASIBLE.—Pursuant to the Reclama25 tion Act of 1902 (32 Stat. 388) and Acts amendatory 


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1 thereof and supplemental thereto, the Project is feasible 

2 and no further studies or actions regarding feasibility are 

3 necessary. 

4 (b) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—The Sec5 retary shall implement the authority provided in this Act 

6 in accordance with all applicable Federal laws, including 

7 the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

8 4321 et seq.) and the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

9 (7 U.S.C. 136; 16 U.S.C. 460 et seq.). 

10 SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT. 

11 All final planning and design and the construction of 

12 the Project authorized by this Act shall be undertaken in 

13 accordance with a cooperative agreement between the Sec14 retary and the District for the Project. Such cooperative 

15 agreement shall set forth in a manner acceptable to the 

16 Secretary and the District the responsibilities of the Dis17 trict for participating, which shall include— 

18 (1) engineering and design; 

19 (2) construction; and 

20 (3) the administration of contracts pertaining 

21 to any of the foregoing. 

22 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR THE MADERA WATER SUPPLY 

23 AND ENHANCEMENT PROJECT. 

24 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF CONSTRUCTION.—The Sec25 retary, acting pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws 


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1 (Act of June 17, 1902; 32 Stat. 388), and Acts amend2 atory thereof or supplementary thereto, is authorized to 

3 enter into a cooperative agreement through the Bureau 

4 of Reclamation with the District for the support of the 

5 final design and construction of the Project. 

6 (b) TOTAL COST.—The total cost of the Project for 

7 the purposes of determining the Federal cost share shall 

8 not exceed $90,000,000. 

9 (c) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the capital 

10 costs of the Project shall not exceed 25 percent of the total 

11 cost. Capital, planning, design, permitting, construction, 

12 and land acquisition costs incurred by the District prior 

13 to the date of the enactment of this Act shall be considered 

14 a portion of the non-Federal cost share. 

15 (d) CREDIT FOR NON-FEDERAL WORK.—The Dis16 trict shall receive credit toward the non-Federal share of 

17 the cost of the Project for— 

18 (1) in-kind services that the Secretary deter19 mines would contribute substantially toward the 

20 completion of the project; 

21 (2) reasonable costs incurred by the District as 

22 a result of participation in the planning, design, per23 mitting, and construction of the Project; and 

24 (3) the acquisition costs of lands used or ac25 quired by the District for the Project. 


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1 (e) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not provide 

2 funds for the operation or maintenance of the Project au3 thorized by this section. The operation, ownership, and 

4 maintenance of the Project shall be the sole responsibility 

5 of the District. 

6 (f) PLANS AND ANALYSES CONSISTENT WITH FED7 ERAL LAW.—Before obligating funds for design or con8 struction under this section, the Secretary shall work co9 operatively with the District to use, to the extent possible, 

10 plans, designs, and engineering and environmental anal11 yses that have already been prepared by the District for 

12 the Project. The Secretary shall ensure that such informa13 tion as is used is consistent with applicable Federal laws 

14 and regulations. 

15 (g) TITLE; RESPONSIBILITY; LIABILITY.—Nothing in 

16 this section or the assistance provided under this section 

17 shall be construed to transfer title, responsibility, or liabil18 ity related to the Project to the United States. 

19 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

21 out this Act $22,500,000 or 25 percent of the total cost 

22 of the Project, whichever is less. 


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1 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

2 The authority of the Secretary to carry out any provi3 sions of this Act shall terminate 10 years after the date 

4 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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