II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2087

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

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.

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’’.
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S 2087 IS

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

2 LANDS.

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—

4 (1) MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT.—The term

5 ‘‘Memorandum of Agreement’’ means the agreement

6 between the Secretary and Wellton-Mohawk, relating

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

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

9 means the Department of the Interior, Bureau of

10 Reclamation.

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

12 the Secretary of the Interior.

13 (4) WELLTON-MOHAWK.—The term ‘‘Wellton14 Mohawk’’ means the Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and

15 Drainage District, an irrigation and drainage dis16 trict created, organized, and existing under and by

17 virtue of the laws of the State of Arizona.

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

19 the Department of Energy, Western Area Power Ad20 ministration.

21 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary shall carry

22 out the provisions of the Memorandum of Agreement. If

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

24 Memorandum of Agreement, but review under the Na25 tional Environmental Policy Act has been completed and

26 fair market value has been established, then upon tender
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S 2087 IS

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

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

3 to the works, facilities, and lands described in the Memo4 randum of Agreement shall transfer to and vest in

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

6 provide such evidence of title as may be requested by

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

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

9 be considered null and void.

10 (c) WATER AND POWER DELIVERY.—Notwithstand11 ing the transfer of title to works, facilities, and lands, the

12 Secretary is authorized and shall continue to deliver to

13 Wellton-Mohawk in accordance with the terms of the

14 Amendatory and Supplemental Consolidated Contract

15 with Wellton-Mohawk Irrigation and Drainage District for

16 Delivery of Water, Construction of Works, Repayment,

17 and Project Power Supply (Reclamation’s Contract Num18 ber 1–07–30–W0021 Amendment No. 1) including any re19 newals, amendments, supplements, or extensions thereof.

20 Notwithstanding the transfer of title to works, facilities,

21 and lands, the Secretary and Western are authorized and

22 shall continue to provide Wellton-Mohawk with project re23 served power from the Parker Reclamation Power Plant

24 and Davis Reclamation Power Plant, in accordance with

25 the terms of the Consolidated Contract and the Power
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S 2087 IS

1 Management Agreement (Reclamation’s and Western’s

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

3 and 6–CU–30–P1138) including any renewals, amend4 ments, supplements, or extensions thereof.

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

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

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

8 kind arising out of any act, omission, or occurrence relat9 ing to the conveyed works, facilities, and lands, except for

10 damages caused by acts of negligence committed by the

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

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

13 2671 et seq.).

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

15 of transfer, Wellton-Mohawk shall agree that—

16 (1) the volume of agricultural return flows from

17 Wellton-Mohawk delivered to Reclamation’s Main

18 Outlet Drain at Station 0+00 shall comply with ap19 plicable law and contracts and shall not exceed

20 175,000 annual acre feet; and

21 (2) Wellton-Mohawk and Reclamation shall

22 work cooperatively to attempt to limit return flows

23 to the design capacity of the Yuma Desalinization

24 Plant.
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1 (f) REPORT.—The Secretary shall provide a report

2 to the Committee on Resources of the United States

3 House of Representatives and to the Committee on En4 ergy and Natural Resources of the United States Senate

5 within eighteen months from the date of enactment of this

6 Act on the status of the transfer, any obstacles to comple7 tion of the transfer as provided in this Act, and the antici8 pated date for such transfer.

9 (g) AUTHORIZATION.—There are authorized to be ap10 propriated such sums as necessary for the purposes of this

11 Act.

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