II

Calendar No. 526

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2087

[Report No. 105–289]

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain works, facilities,

and titles of the Gila Project, and designated lands within or adjacent

to the Gila Project, to the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage

District, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 18, 1998

Mr. KYL (for himself and Mr. MCCAIN) introduced the following bill; which

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

Resources

AUGUST 25, 1998

Reported under authority of the order of the Senate of July 31, 1998, by Mr.

MURKOWSKI, with an amendment

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain

works, facilities, and titles of the Gila Project, and designated lands within or adjacent to the Gila Project,

to the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District,

and for other purposes.
2

S 2087 RS

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 ‘‘Wellton-Mohawk Title

5 Transfer Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. CONVEYANCE OF TITLE TO WORKS, FACILITIES AND

7 LANDS.

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—

9 (1) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.—The term

10 ‘‘Memorandum of Agreement’’ means the agreement

11 between the Secretary and Wellton-Mohawk, relating

12 to the transfer, dated on or before July 1, 1998.

13 (2) RECLAMATION.—The term ‘‘Reclamation’’

14 means the Department of the Interior, Bureau of

15 Reclamation.

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

17 the Secretary of the Interior.

18 (4) WELLTON-MOHAWK.—The term ‘‘Wellton19 Mohawk’’ means the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and

20 Drainage District, an irrigation and drainage dis21 trict created, organized, and existing under and by

22 virtue of the laws of the State of Arizona.

23 (5) WESTERN.—The term ‘‘Western’’ means

24 the Department of Energy, Western Area Power Ad25 ministration.
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S 2087 RS

1 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall carry

2 out the provisions of the Memorandum of Agreement. If

3 transfer has not occurred by the date set forth in the

4 Memorandum of Agreement, but review under the Na5 tional Environmental Policy Act has been completed and

6 fair market value has been established, then upon tender

7 of fair market value to the Secretary by Wellton-Mohawk,

8 all right, title, and interest of the United States in and

9 to the works, facilities, and lands described in the Memo10 randum of Agreement shall transfer to and vest in

11 Wellton-Mohawk by operation of law. The Secretary shall

12 provide such evidence of title as may be requested by

13 Wellton-Mohawk. In the event that no Memorandum of

14 Agreement is agreed to by July 1, 1998, this Act shall

15 be considered null and void.

16 (c) WATER AND POWER DELIVERY.—Notwithstand17 ing the transfer of title to works, facilities, and lands, the

18 Secretary is authorized and shall continue to deliver to

19 Wellton-Mohawk in accordance with the terms of the

20 Amendatory and Supplemental Consolidated Contract

21 with Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District for

22 Delivery of Water, Construction of Works, Repayment,

23 and Project Power Supply (Reclamation’s Contract Num24 ber 1–07–30–W0021 Amendment No. 1) including any re25 newals, amendments, supplements, or extensions thereof.
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S 2087 RS

1 Notwithstanding the transfer of title to works, facilities,

2 and lands, the Secretary and Western are authorized and

3 shall continue to provide Wellton-Mohawk with project re4 served power from the Parker Reclamation Power Plant

5 and Davis Reclamation Power Plant, in accordance with

6 the terms of the Consolidated Contract and the Power

7 Management Agreement (Reclamation’s and Western’s

8 contract Numbers 6–CU–30–P1136, 6–CU–30–P1137,

9 and 6–CU–30–P1138) including any renewals, amend10 ments, supplements, or extensions thereof.

11 (d) LIABILITY.—Effective on the date of conveyance

12 of the project works, facilities and lands, the United States

13 shall not be held liable by any court for damages of any

14 kind arising out of any act, omission, or occurrence relat15 ing to the conveyed works, facilities, and lands, except for

16 damages caused by acts of negligence committed by the

17 United States or by its employees, agents, or contractors

18 as provided in the Federal Tort Claims Act (28 U.S.C.

19 2671 et seq.).

20 (e) AGRICULTURAL RETURN FLOWS.—As a condition

21 of transfer, Wellton-Mohawk shall agree that—

22 (1) the volume of agricultural return flows from

23 Wellton-Mohawk delivered to Reclamation’s Main

24 Outlet Drain at Station 0+00 shall comply with ap-
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S 2087 RS

1 plicable law and contracts and shall not exceed

2 175,000 annual acre feet; and

3 (2) Wellton-Mohawk and Reclamation shall

4 work cooperatively to attempt to limit return flows

5 to the design capacity of the Yuma Desalinization

6 Plant.

7 (f) REPORT.—The Secretary shall provide a report

8 to the Committee on Resources of the United States

9 House of Representatives and to the Committee on En10 ergy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate

11 within eighteen months from the date of enactment of this

12 Act on the status of the transfer, any obstacles to comple13 tion of the transfer as provided in this Act, and the antici14 pated date for such transfer.

15 (g) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be ap16 propriated such sums as necessary for the purposes of this

17 Act.

18 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE

19 This Act may be referred to as the ‘‘Wellton-Mohawk

20 Transfer Act’’.

21 SEC. 2. TRANSFER

22 The Secretary of the Interior (‘‘Secretary’’) is author23 ized to carry out the terms of the Memorandum of Agree24 ment No. 8–AA–34–WAO14 (‘‘Agreement’’) dated July 10,

25 1998 between the Secretary and the Wellton-Mohawk Irriga-
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S 2087 RS

1 tion and Drainage District (‘‘District’’) providing for the

2 transfer of works, facilities, and lands to the District, in3 cluding conveyance of Acquired Lands, Public Lands, and

4 Withdrawn Lands, as defined in the Agreement.

5 SEC. 3. WATER AND POWER CONTRACTS

6 Notwithstanding the transfer, the Secretary and the

7 Secretary of Energy shall provide for and deliver Colorado

8 River water and Parker-Davis Project Priority Use Power

9 to the District in accordance with the terms of existing con10 tracts with the District, including any amendments or sup11 plements thereto or extensions thereof and as provided

12 under section 2 of the Agreement.

13 SEC. 4. SAVINGS

14 Nothing in this Act shall affect any obligations under

15 the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act (Public Law

16 93–320, 43 U.S.C. 1571).

17 SEC. 5. REPORT

18 If transfer of works, facilities, and lands pursuant to

19 the Agreement has not occurred by July 1, 2000, the Sec20 retary shall report on the status of the transfer as provided

21 in section 5 of the Agreement.

22 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION

23 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as

24 may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.

Calendar No. 526

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2087

[Report No. 105–289]

A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey

poses.gation and Drainage District, and for other purto the Gila Project, to the Wellton-Mohawk IrriProject, and designated lands within or adjacentcertain works, facilities, and titles of the Gila

AUGUST 25, 1998

Reported with an amendment