I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1668 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide for suspension 

of application of the Act to water releases by Federal and State agencies 

in river basins that are affected by drought, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2015 

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

Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide 

for suspension of application of the Act to water releases 

by Federal and State agencies in river basins that are 

affected by drought, 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 ‘‘Save Our Water Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 

2 1973 FOR WATER MANAGEMENT ACTIONS IN 

3 AREAS AFFECTED BY DROUGHT. 

4 Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 

5 (16 U.S.C. 1539) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following: 

7 ‘‘(k) SUSPENSION OF APPLICATION WITH RESPECT

8 TO CERTAIN FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES DURING

9 PERIODS OF DROUGHT.— 

10 ‘‘(1) SUSPENSION.—The application of this Act 

11 with respect to water releases from water storage fa12 cilities by Federal and State agencies in a navigable 

13 river basin in a State is suspended during each pe14 riod in which there is in effect a drought in that 

15 basin. 

16 ‘‘(2) PERIOD OF SUSPENSION.—A suspension 

17 under paragraph (1)— 

18 ‘‘(A) begins on the date on which— 

19 ‘‘(i) the Secretary of the Army, acting 

20 through the Chief of Engineers, or the 

21 Secretary of the Interior determines that 

22 there is a drought in effect in such river 

23 basin that the U.S. Drought Monitor cat24 egorizes as D2 (Severe Drought), D3 (Ex25 treme Drought), or D4 (Exceptional 

26 Drought) conditions; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the Governor of the State (or the 

2 Governor’s designee) determines that there 

3 is a drought in effect in such river basin; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(B) ends on the date on which— 

6 ‘‘(i) in the case of a suspension that 

7 begins under subparagraph (A)(i), the Sec8 retary that made the determination re9 ferred to in that subparagraph determines 

10 that the drought is no longer in effect; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a suspension that 

12 begins under subparagraph (A)(ii), the 

13 Governor determines that the drought is 

14 no longer in effect. 

15 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITION OF ENFORCEMENT BY

16 STATE.— 

17 ‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided 

18 in subparagraph (B), a State may not enforce 

19 the requirements of this Act with respect to any 

20 area of the State with respect to which a sus21 pension under paragraph (1) applies. 

22 ‘‘(B) ENFORCEMENT OF STATE LAW NOT

23 AFFECTED.—Subparagraph (A) does not affect 

24 the authority of a State to carry out and en25 force the laws of the State. 


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1 ‘‘(4) EXCEPTED WATER RELEASES.—This sub2 section does not prohibit any release of water from 

3 a water storage facility for purposes of this Act by 

4 the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Inte5 rior, or a State if such Secretary or the Governor of 

6 such State, respectively, certifies that— 

7 ‘‘(A) such release will not cause harm to 

8 the local, regional, State, or Federal economy; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(B) no water conservation measures will 

11 be required to be taken by any water users as 

12 a result of such release. 

13 ‘‘(5) U.S. DROUGHT MONITOR DEFINED.—In 

14 this subsection the term ‘U.S. Drought Monitor’ 

15 means such Monitor jointly produced by the Na16 tional Drought Mitigation Center at the University 

17 of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Department of Agriculture, 

18 and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis19 tration.’’. 

Æ 


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