II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 419 

To authorize the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority System. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 28, 2011 

Mr. BAUCUS (for himself and Mr. TESTER) 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 2011’’. 

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— 


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

2 Richland Counties of the State; and 

3 (2) McKenzie County, North Dakota. 

4 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

6 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis7 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Western 

8 Area Power Administration. 

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

10 means— 

11 (A) the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au12 thority, which is a publicly owned nonprofit 

13 water authority formed in accordance with 

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

15 (B) any nonprofit successor entity. 

16 (3) INTEGRATED SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘inte17 grated system’’ means the transmission system 

18 owned by the Western Area Power Administration 

19 Basin Electric Power District and the Heartland 

20 Consumers Power District. 

21 (4) NON-FEDERAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.— 

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

23 a non-Federal utility that provides electricity to the 

24 counties covered by the Water System. 


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1 (5) PICK-SLOAN PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Pick2 Sloan program’’ means the Pick-Sloan Missouri 

3 River Basin Program (authorized by section 9 of the 

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

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

6 665)). 

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

8 the Secretary of the Interior. 

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

10 of Montana. 

11 (8) WATER SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘Water Sys12 tem’’ means the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Au13 thority System authorized under section 4 with a 

14 project service area that includes— 

15 (A) the Garfield and McCone Counties of 

16 the State; 

17 (B) the area west of the Yellowstone River 

18 in Dawson and Richland Counties of the State; 

19 (C) Township 15N (including the area 

20 north of the Township) in Prairie County of the 

21 State; and 

22 (D) the portion of McKenzie County, 

23 North Dakota that includes all land that is lo24 cated west of the Yellowstone River in the State 

25 of North Dakota. 


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1 SEC. 4. DRY-REDWATER REGIONAL WATER AUTHORITY SYS2 TEM. 

3 (a) AUTHORIZATION.— 

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

5 through the Commissioner of the Bureau of Rec6 lamation, determines that the project is feasible, the 

7 Secretary is authorized to carry out the project enti8 tled ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority Sys9 tem’’ in a manner that is substantially in accordance 

10 with the plans, and subject to the conditions, de11 scribed in the ‘‘Dry-Redwater Regional Water Sys12 tem Feasibility Study’’, which received funding from 

13 the Bureau of Reclamation on September 1, 2010, 

14 and is to be completed in accordance with section 

15 106(a) of the Rural Water Supply Act of 2006 (43 

16 U.S.C. 2405(a)). 

17 (2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.—The Secretary 

18 shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the 

19 Authority to provide Federal assistance for the plan20 ning, design, and construction of the Dry Redwater 

21 Regional Water Authority. 

22 (b) COST SHARING.— 

23 (1) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

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

25 the costs relating to the planning, design, and 

26 construction of the Water System shall not exVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:24 Mar 01, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S419.IS S419

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1 ceed 75 percent of the total cost of the Water 

2 System. 

3 (B) LIMITATION.—Amounts made avail4 able under subparagraph (A) shall not be re5 turnable or reimbursable under the reclamation 

6 laws. 

7 (2) USE OF FEDERAL FUNDS.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara9 graph (B), Federal funds made available to 

10 carry out this section may be used for— 

11 (i) facilities relating to— 

12 (I) water intake; 

13 (II) water pumping; 

14 (III) water treatment; and 

15 (IV) water storage; 

16 (ii) transmission pipelines and pump17 ing stations; 

18 (iii) appurtenant buildings, mainte19 nance equipment, and access roads; 

20 (iv) any interconnection facility that 

21 connects a pipeline of the Water System to 

22 a pipeline of a public water system; 

23 (v) distribution, pumping, and storage 

24 facilities that— 


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1 (I) serve the needs of citizens 

2 who use public water systems; 

3 (II) are in existence on the date 

4 of enactment of this Act; and 

5 (III) may be purchased, im6 proved, and repaired in accordance 

7 with a cooperative agreement entered 

8 into by the Secretary under subsection 

9 (a)(2); 

10 (vi) electrical power transmission and 

11 distribution facilities required for the oper12 ation and maintenance of the Water Sys13 tem; 

14 (vii) any other facility or service re15 quired for the development of a rural water 

16 distribution system, as determined by the 

17 Secretary; and 

18 (viii) any property or property right 

19 required for the construction or operation 

20 of a facility described in this subsection. 

21 (B) LIMITATION.—Federal funds made 

22 available to carry out this section shall not be 

23 used for the operation, maintenance, or replace24 ment of the Water System. 


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

2 by the Authority. 

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

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

5 Garfield Counties in the State were designated as impact 

6 counties during the period in which the Fort Peck Dam 

7 was constructed, and as such, were to receive impact miti8 gation benefits in accordance with the Pick-Sloan pro9 gram. 

10 (b) AVAILABILITY OF POWER.— 

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

12 the Administrator shall make available to the Water 

System a quantity of power required, of up to 11 13 ⁄2

14 megawatt capacity, to meet the pumping and inci15 dental operation requirements of the Water System 

16 during the period beginning on May 1 and ending on 

17 October 31 of each year— 

18 (A) from the water intake facilities; and 

19 (B) through all pumping stations, water 

20 treatment facilities, reservoirs, storage tanks, 

21 and pipelines up to the point of delivery of 

22 water by the water supply system to all storage 

23 reservoirs and tanks and each entity that dis24 tributes water at retail to individual users. 


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

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

3 Water System— 

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

5 (B) is constructed pursuant to a coopera6 tive agreement entered into by the Secretary 

7 under section 4(a)(2). 

8 (3) RATE.—The Administrator shall establish 

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

10 the firm power rate. 

11 (4) ADDITIONAL POWER.— 

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

13 that made available to the Water System under 

14 paragraph (1), is necessary to meet the pump15 ing requirements of the Authority, the Adminis16 trator may purchase the necessary additional 

17 power at the best available rate. 

18 (B) REIMBURSEMENT.—The cost of pur19 chasing additional power shall be reimbursed to 

20 the Administrator by the Authority. 

21 (5) RESPONSIBILITY FOR POWER CHARGES.— 

22 The Authority shall be responsible for the payment 

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

24 non-Federal delivery costs described in paragraph 

25 (6). 


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1 (6) TRANSMISSION ARRANGEMENTS.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Water System 

3 shall be responsible for all non-Federal trans4 mission and distribution system delivery and 

5 service arrangements. 

6 (B) UPGRADES.—The Water System shall 

7 be responsible for funding any transmission up8 grades, if required, to the integrated system 

9 necessary to deliver power to the Water System. 

10 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be appropriated to carry out the planning, 

13 design, and construction of the Water System 

14 $115,116,000. 

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

16 appropriated under subsection (a) may be increased or de17 creased in accordance with ordinary fluctuations in devel18 opment costs incurred after January 1, 2008, as indicated 

19 by any available engineering cost indices applicable to con20 struction activities that are similar to the construction of 

21 the Water System. 

Æ 


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