II

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1515

To amend Public Law 89–108 to increase authorization levels for State

and Indian tribal, municipal, rural, and industrial water supplies, to

meet current and future water quantity and quality needs of the Red

River Valley, to deauthorize certain project features and irrigation service

areas, to enhance natural resources and fish and wildlife habitat, and

for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 10, 1997

Mr. CONRAD (for himself and Mr. DORGAN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To amend Public Law 89–108 to increase authorization levels for State and Indian tribal, municipal, rural, and

industrial water supplies, to meet current and future

water quantity and quality needs of the Red River Valley,

to deauthorize certain project features and irrigation

service areas, to enhance natural resources and fish and

wildlife habitat, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dakota Water Re3 sources Act of 1997’’.

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSES AND AUTHORIZATION.

5 Section 1 of Public Law 89–108 (79 Stat. 433; 100

6 Stat. 418) is amended—

7 (1) in subsection (a)—

8 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘of’’ and

9 inserting ‘‘within’’;

10 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘more

11 timely’’ and inserting ‘‘appropriate’’; and

12 (C) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘provid13 ing irrigation for 130,940 acres of land’’ and

14 inserting ‘‘providing for the development of mu15 nicipal, rural, and industrial water systems,

16 ground water recharge, augmented stream

17 flows, irrigation, and enhanced fish and wildlife

18 habitat and other natural resources’’;

19 (2) in subsection (b)—

20 (A) by inserting ‘‘, jointly with the State of

21 North Dakota,’’ after ‘‘construct’’;

22 (B) by striking ‘‘the irrigation of 130,940

23 acres’’ and inserting ‘‘irrigation’’;

24 (C) by striking ‘‘fish and wildlife conserva25 tion’’ and inserting ‘‘fish, wildlife, and other

26 natural resource conservation’’;
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1 (D) by inserting ‘‘augmented stream flows,

2 ground water recharge,’’ after ‘‘flood control,’’;

3 and

4 (E) by inserting ‘‘(as modified by this

5 Act)’’ before the period at the end;

6 (3) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘terminated,’’

7 and all that follows and inserting ‘‘terminated.’’; and

8 (4) by striking subsections (f) and (g) and in9 serting the following:

10 ‘‘(f) NONREIMBURSABILITY OF FEATURES.—All fea11 tures constructed by the Secretary before the date of en12 actment of the Dakota Water Resources Act of 1997, in13 cluding the Oakes Test Area, shall be nonreimbursable.

14 ‘‘(g) AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SECRETARY AND

15 THE STATE.—The Secretary shall enter into an agreement

16 with the State of North Dakota providing for the oper17 ation and maintenance of the completed unit facilities and

18 the design and construction of authorized new unit facili19 ties by the State. The Secretary shall be responsible for

20 the cost of operation and maintenance of the proportionate

21 share attributable to the facilities which remain unused.

22 ‘‘(h) MITIGATION AND ENHANCEMENT.—The Sec23 retary shall be responsible for operation, maintenance, and

24 replacement of mitigation and enhancement measures as25 sociated with features constructed under this Act.’’.
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1 SEC. 3. FISH AND WILDLIFE.

2 Section 2 of Public Law 89–108 (79 Stat. 433; 100

3 Stat. 419) is amended—

4 (1) in subsection (c)—

5 (A) in paragraph (1)—

6 (i) by striking ‘‘(1) If, before com7 mencement of construction of the unit,

8 non-Federal public bodies agree’’ and in9 serting ‘‘If non-Federal public bodies con10 tinue to agree’’; and

11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and the State of

12 North Dakota’’ after ‘‘the Secretary’’; and

13 (B) by striking paragraph (2);

14 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘: Provided,

15 That’’ and all that follows through ‘‘years’’;

16 (3) in subsection (e)—

17 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and

18 (2) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively;

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(e)’’;

20 (C) in the first sentence of paragraph (2)

21 (as redesignated by subparagraph (A)), by

22 striking ‘‘within ten years after initial unit op23 eration’’; and

24 (D) in the first sentence of paragraph (3)

25 (as redesignated by subparagraph (A))—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘, within ten years

2 after initial operation of the unit,’’; and

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1) of this

4 subsection’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (2)

5 of this subsection’’; and

6 (4) in subsection (j)—

7 (A) by striking paragraph (1); and

8 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and

9 (3) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively.

10 SEC. 4. IRRIGATION FACILITIES.

11 Section 5 of Public Law 89–108 (100 Stat. 419) is

12 amended—

13 (1) by striking ‘‘SEC. 5. (a)(1)’’ and all that

14 follows through subsection (c) and inserting the fol15 lowing:

16 ‘‘SEC. 5. IRRIGATION FACILITIES.

17 ‘‘(a) In addition to the existing 5,000-acre Oakes

18 Test Area, the Secretary is authorized to develop irriga19 tion in the following project service areas: Turtle Lake

20 (13,700 acres) and McClusky Canal (10,000 acres). The

21 Secretary may also develop 1,200 acres of irrigation in the

22 New Rockford Canal Service Area provided that the Sec23 retary also implements user fees for full reimbursement.

24 The Secretary is prohibited from developing irrigation in

25 these areas in excess of the acreage specified herein, ex-
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1 cept that the Secretary is authorized and directed to de2 velop up to 28,000 acres of irrigation in other areas of

3 North Dakota (such as Nesson Valley and Horsehead

4 Flats areas), not located in the Hudson Bay, Devils Lake,

5 or James River drainage basins.’’;

6 (2) by redesignating subsections (d), (e), and

7 (f) as subsections (b), (c), and (d), respectively;

8 (3) in the first sentence of subsection (b) (as

9 redesignated by paragraph (2)), by striking ‘‘(a)(1)’’

10 and inserting ‘‘(a)’’; and

11 (4) in the first sentence of subsection (c) (as re12 designated by paragraph (2)), by striking ‘‘Lucky

13 Mound (7,700 acres), Upper Six Mile Creek (7,500

14 acres)’’ and inserting ‘‘Lucky Mound (7,700 acres)

15 and Upper Six Mile Creek (7,500 acres), or such

16 other lands at Fort Berthold of equal acreage as

17 may be selected by the tribe and approved by the

18 Secretary,’’.

19 SEC. 5. POWER.

20 Section 6 of Public Law 89–108 (79 Stat. 435; 100

21 Stat. 421) is amended—

22 (1) in subsection (b)—

23 (A) by striking ‘‘Notwithstanding the pro24 visions of’’ and inserting ‘‘Pursuant to the pro25 visions of’’; and
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1 (B) by striking ‘‘revenues,’’ and all that

2 follows and inserting ‘‘revenues.’’; and

3 (2) in subsection (c)—

4 (A) in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘any

5 reallocation’’ and all that follows and inserting

6 ‘‘section 1(e) shall not result in any reallocation

7 of project costs and shall not result in increased

8 rates to Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program

9 customers.’’; and

10 (B) by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘Nothing in this Act shall alter or affect in any

12 way the current repayment methodology for

13 other features of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin

14 Program.’’.

15 SEC. 6. MUNICIPAL, RURAL, AND INDUSTRIAL WATER SERV16 ICE.

17 Section 7 of Public Law 89–108 (100 Stat. 422) is

18 amended—

19 (1) in subsection (a)—

20 (A) in paragraph (3)—

21 (i) in the second sentence—

22 (I) by striking ‘‘The non-Federal

23 share’’ and inserting ‘‘Unless other24 wise provided in this Act, the non25 Federal share’’; and
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1 (II) by striking ‘‘this section

2 shall be 25 percent’’ and inserting

3 ‘‘this section and section 8(a) shall be

4 15 percent’’;

5 (ii) by inserting after the second sen6 tence the following: ‘‘The State may use

7 the Federal and non-Federal funds to pro8 vide grants or loans for municipal, rural,

9 and industrial water systems. The State

10 may continue to use funds from repaid

11 loans for municipal, rural, and industrial

12 water systems.’’; and

13 (iii) by striking the last sentence and

14 inserting the following: ‘‘The Southwest

15 Pipeline Project, the Northwest Area

16 Water Supply Project, the Red River Val17 ley Water Supply Project, and other mu18 nicipal, industrial, and rural water systems

19 in the State of North Dakota shall be eligi20 ble for funding under this section.’’; and

21 (B) by adding at the end the following:

22 ‘‘(4) PROJECT FEATURES FOR RED RIVER VAL23 LEY WATER NEEDS.—

24 ‘‘(A) REPORT ON RED RIVER VALLEY

25 WATER NEEDS AND DELIVERY OPTIONS.—Not
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1 later than 90 days after the effective date of

2 the Dakota Water Resources Act of 1997, the

3 Secretary, acting through the Commissioner of

4 the Bureau of Reclamation, and the State of

5 North Dakota shall jointly submit to Congress

6 a report on the comprehensive water quality

7 and quantity needs of the Red River Valley and

8 the options for meeting those needs, including

9 the delivery of Missouri River water to the Red

10 River Valley. Such needs shall include, but not

11 be limited to, augmenting stream flows and en12 hancing: municipal, rural, and industrial water

13 supplies; water quality; aquatic environment;

14 and recreation.

15 ‘‘(B) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATE16 MENT.—Not later than 180 days after the date

17 of enactment of the Dakota Water Resources

18 Act of 1997, the Secretary shall, in coordina19 tion with and with the concurrence of the State

20 of North Dakota, prepare and complete a draft

21 environmental impact statement concerning all

22 feasible options to meet the comprehensive

23 water quality and quantity needs of the Red

24 River Valley and the options for meeting those
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1 needs, including the delivery of Missouri River

2 water to the Red River Valley.

3 ‘‘(C) PROCESS FOR SELECTION.—After re4 viewing the final report required by section

5 7(a)(4)(A) and complying with the require6 ments of section 7(a)(4)(B), and after consulta7 tion with the Secretary of the Interior, the Sec8 retary of State, and other interested parties,

9 the State of North Dakota in coordination with

10 affected local communities shall select 1 or

11 more project features described in section

12 8(a)(1) that will meet the comprehensive water

13 quality and quantity needs of the Red River

14 Valley. The Secretary is authorized and directed

15 to enter into, within 180 days after the record

16 of decision has been executed, agreements in ac17 cordance with sections 1(g) and 7(a) to con18 struct the feature or features selected by the

19 State.

20 ‘‘(D) WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAM.—

21 Funds provided in section 10(b)(1) and funds

22 provided in section 10(b)(2) to carry out section

23 8(a) may be used by the State to develop and

24 implement a water conservation program. The

25 Secretary and State shall jointly establish water
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1 conservation goals to meet the purposes of the

2 State’s program and to improve the availability

3 of water supplies to meet the purposes of this

4 Act. If the State achieves the established water

5 conservation goals, the non-Federal cost share

6 established in section 7(a)(3) shall be reduced

7 by 0.5 percent.’’.

8 (2) in subsection (b)—

9 (A) in the first sentence, by striking the

10 period at the end and inserting ‘‘or such other

11 feature or features as may be selected under

12 subsection (a)(4)(C).’’;

13 (B) in the second sentence, by striking

14 ‘‘conveyance’’ and inserting ‘‘a project feature

15 selected under subsection (a)(4)(C)’’; and

16 (C) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In

17 addition, the costs of construction, operation,

18 maintenance, and replacement of Northwest

19 Area Water Supply Project water treatment fa20 cilities deemed attributable to meeting the re21 quirements of the Boundary Waters Treaty of

22 1909 shall also be nonreimbursable.’’.

23 (3) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘and Fort

24 Totten Indian Reservations’’ and inserting ‘‘Turtle

25 Mountain (including the Trenton Indian Service
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1 Area), and Fort Totten Indian Reservations and ad2 jacent areas’’; and

3 (4) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(e) NONREIMBURSABILITY OF COSTS.—With re5 spect to the Southwest Pipeline Project, the Northwest

6 Area Water Supply Project, the Red River Valley Water

7 Supply Project, and other municipal, industrial, and rural

8 water systems in North Dakota, the costs of the features

9 constructed on the Missouri River by the Secretary of the

10 Army before the date of enactment of the Dakota Water

11 Resources Act of 1997 shall be nonreimbursable.’’.

12 SEC. 7. SPECIFIC FEATURES.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 8 of Public Law 89–108

14 (100 Stat. 423) is amended by striking ‘‘SEC. 8.’’ and all

15 that follows through subsection (a) and inserting the fol16 lowing:

17 ‘‘SEC. 8. SPECIFIC FEATURES.

18 ‘‘(a) AUTHORIZATION.—

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary is authorized

20 and directed to construct a feature or features to de21 liver Missouri River water to the Sheyenne River

22 water supply and release facility or such other fea23 ture or features as are selected under section

24 7(a)(4)(C). The feature shall be designed and con25 structed to meet only the water delivery require-
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1 ments of the irrigation areas, municipal, rural, and

2 industrial water supply needs, ground water re3 charge, and streamflow augmentation (as described

4 in section 7(a)(4)(A)) authorized in this Act. The

5 feature shall be located, constructed, and operated

6 so that, in the opinion of the Secretaries of the Inte7 rior and State, no violation of the Boundary Waters

8 Treaty of 1909 would result. The Secretary may not

9 commence construction on the feature until a master

10 repayment contract consistent with the provisions of

11 this Act between the Secretary and the appropriate

12 non-Federal entity has been executed.

13 ‘‘(2) DEAUTHORIZATION OF LONETREE DAM

14 AND RESERVOIR.—The Lonetree Dam and Reservoir

15 is deauthorized, and the Secretary shall designate

16 the lands acquired for the former reservoir site a

17 wildlife conservation area.

18 ‘‘(3) The Secretary is authorized and directed

19 to enter into an agreement with the State of North

20 Dakota providing for the operation and maintenance

21 of the Lonetree wildlife conservation area, the costs

22 of which shall be paid by the Secretary.

23 (b) TAAYER RESERVOIR.—Section 8(b) of Public

24 Law 89–108 (100 Stat. 423) is amended in the second

25 sentence—
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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘acting through the Commis2 sioner of the Bureau of Reclamation’’ after ‘‘Sec3 retary’’; and

4 (2) by inserting ‘‘, including acquisition through

5 donation or exchange,’’ after ‘‘acquire’’.

6 SEC. 8. EXCESS CROPS.

7 Section 9 of Public Law 89–108 (100 Stat. 423) is

8 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘Upon trans9 fer of the Oakes Test Area to the State of North Dakota,

10 but not later than 1 year after enactment of the Dakota

11 Water Resources Act of 1997, Federal funds authorized

12 by this Act may not be used to subsidize the irrigation

13 of any crop at the Oakes Test Area.’’.

14 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

15 Section 10 of Public Law 89–108 (100 Stat. 424;

16 106 Stat. 4669, 4739) is amended—

17 (1) in subsection (a)—

18 (A) in the first sentence of paragraph (1),

19 by striking ‘‘$270,395,000 for carrying out the

20 provisions of section 5(a) through section 5(c)

21 and section 8(a)(1) of this Act’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘to carry out section 5(a) $84,200,000’’; and

23 (B) in the first sentence of paragraph (2),

24 by striking ‘‘5(e) of this Act’’ and inserting

25 ‘‘5(c)’’;
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1 (2) in subsection (b)—

2 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting after

3 the first sentence the following: ‘‘In addition to

4 the amount authorized under the preceding sen5 tence, there is authorized to be appropriated

6 $300,000,000 to carry out section 7(a).’’; and

7 (B) in paragraph (2), by inserting after

8 the first sentence the following: ‘‘In addition to

9 the amount authorized under the preceding sen10 tence, there are authorized to be appropriated

11 $200,000,000 to carry out section 7(c), to be

12 allocated as follows: $30,000,000 to the Fort

13 Totten Indian Reservation, $70,000,000 to the

14 Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, $80,000,000

15 to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, and

16 $20,000,000 to the Turtle Mountain Indian

17 Reservation. Also, in addition to the amount

18 authorized under the first sentence of this sub19 section, there are authorized to be appropriated

20 $200,000,000 to carry out section 8(a).’’.

21 (3) in subsection (c)—

22 (A) by striking the second sentence and in23 serting the following: ‘‘In addition to the

24 amount authorized under the preceding sen25 tence, there are authorized to be appropriated
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1 $6,500,000 to carry out recreational projects

2 and, subject to section 11(a)(2), $25,000,000 to

3 carry out section 11. Of the funds authorized

4 for recreational projects, up to $1,500,000 may

5 be used to fund a wetland interpretive center in

6 the State of North Dakota.’’;

7 (B) in the last sentence, by striking the pe8 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘(including the

9 mitigation and enhancement features).’’; and

10 (C) by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘Expenditures for operation and maintenance

12 of features substantially completed and features

13 constructed before the date of enactment of the

14 Dakota Water Resources Act of 1997, including

15 funds expended for such purposes since the

16 date of enactment of Public Law 99–294, shall

17 not be subject to the authorization limits in this

18 section. When the features authorized by sec19 tion 8(a) are operational, a separate account in

20 the Natural Resources Trust authorized in sec21 tion 11 shall be established for operation and

22 maintenance of the mitigation and enhancement

23 lands associated with the unit.’’;

24 (4) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘portion of the

25 $61,000,000 authorized for Indian municipal, rural,
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1 and industrial water features’’ and inserting

2 ‘‘amounts under subsection (b)’’; and

3 (5) by adding at the end the following:

4 ‘‘(f) FOUR BEARS BRIDGE.—There is authorized to

5 be appropriated, for demolition of the existing structure

6 and construction of the Four Bears Bridge across Lake

7 Sakakawea within the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation,

8 $40,000,000.’’.

9 SEC. 10. NATURAL RESOURCES TRUST.

10 Section 11 of Public Law 89–108 (100 Stat. 424)

11 is amended—

12 (1) in subsection (a)—

13 (A) by striking ‘‘Wetlands’’ and inserting

14 ‘‘Natural Resources’’;

15 (B) by striking ‘‘The amount of each such

16 annual contribution shall be as follows:’’;

17 (C) by striking paragraphs (1), (2), and

18 (3);

19 (D) by redesignating paragraph (4) as

20 paragraph (1); and

21 (E) by inserting after paragraph (1) (as

22 redesignated by subparagraph (D)) the follow23 ing:

24 ‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION.—

25 In addition to the amounts authorized in the preced-
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1 ing subsection, the total amount of the Federal con2 tribution pursuant to this Act is increased by

3 $25,000,000.

4 ‘‘(A) The amount of each annual Federal

5 contribution authorized by this subsection shall

6 be 5 percent of the total amount appropriated

7 under section 10(b)(1) and under section

8 10(b)(2) to carry out section 8(a) of this Act.

9 ‘‘(B) The sums appropriated under section

10 11(a)(2)(A) shall not exceed $10,000,000, sub11 ject to the provisions of section 11(a)(2)(C).

12 ‘‘(C) The remaining $15,000,000 may not

13 be appropriated until the features authorized by

14 section 8(a) are operational and meeting the ob15 jectives of that section as determined jointly by

16 the Secretary and the State.’’;

17 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘Wetlands

18 Trust’’ and inserting ‘‘Natural Resources Trust’’;

19 and

20 (3) in subsection (c)—

21 (A) by striking ‘‘Wetland Trust’’ and in22 serting ‘‘Natural Resources Trust’’;

23 (B) by striking ‘‘are met’’ and inserting

24 ‘‘is met’’;
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1 (C) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, grass2 land conservation and riparian areas’’ after

3 ‘‘habitat’’; and

4 (D) in paragraph (2), by adding at the end

5 the following:

6 ‘‘(C) The power to fund incentives for con7 servation practices by landowners.’’.

8 SEC. 11. BANK STABILIZATION.

9 The Secretary of the Interior shall cause to be per10 formed a review of the options for stabilization of the

11 banks of the Missouri River downstream of the Garrison

12 Dam in the State of North Dakota.

Æ