106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1761

AMENDMENT

In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

December 4, 2000.

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 1761) entitled ‘‘An Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior, through

the Bureau of Reclamation, to conserve and enhance the

water supplies of the Lower Rio Grande Valley’’, do pass with

the following

AMENDMENT:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lower Rio Grande Val3 ley Water Resources Conservation and Improvement Act of

4 2000’’.

5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

6 In this Act:

7 (1) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commissioner’’

8 means the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclama9 tion.

10 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

11 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Com12 missioner.
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1 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the Texas

2 Water Development Board and any other authorized

3 entity of the State of Texas.

4 (4) PROGRAM AREA.—The term ‘‘program area’’

5 means—

6 (A) the counties in the State of Texas in the

7 Rio Grande Regional Water Planning Area

8 known as Region ‘‘M’’ as designated by the

9 Texas Water Development Board; and

10 (B) the counties of Hudspeth and El Paso,

11 Texas.

12 SEC. 3. LOWER RIO GRANDE WATER CONSERVATION AND

13 IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting pursuant to

15 the Reclamation Act of 1902 (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat.

16 388) and Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary

17 thereto, shall undertake a program in cooperation with the

18 State, water users in the program area, and other non-Fed19 eral entities, to investigate and identify opportunities to

20 improve the supply of water for the program area as pro21 vided in this Act. The program shall include the review of

22 studies or planning reports (or both) prepared by any com23 petent engineering entity for projects designed to conserve

24 and transport raw water in the program area. As part of

25 the program, the Secretary shall evaluate alternatives in the
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1 program area that could be used to improve water supplies,

2 including the following:

3 (1) Lining irrigation canals.

4 (2) Increasing the use of pipelines, flow control

5 structures, meters, and associated appurtenances of

6 water supply facilities.

7 (b) PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT.—Within 6 months after

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con9 sultation with the State, shall develop and publish criteria

10 to determine which projects would qualify and have the

11 highest priority for financing under this Act. Such criteria

12 shall address, at a minimum—

13 (1) how the project relates to the near- and long14 term water demands and supplies in the study area,

15 including how the project would affect the need for de16 velopment of new or expanded water supplies;

17 (2) the relative amount of water (acre feet) to be

18 conserved pursuant to the project;

19 (3) whether the project would provide oper20 ational efficiency improvements or achieve water, en21 ergy, or economic savings (or any combination of the

22 foregoing) at a rate of acre feet of water or kilowatt

23 energy saved per dollar expended on the construction

24 of the project; and
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1 (4) if the project proponents have met the re2 quirements specified in subsection (c).

3 (c) PROJECT REQUIREMENTS.—A project sponsor seek4 ing Federal funding under this program shall—

5 (1) provide a report, prepared by the Bureau of

6 Reclamation or prepared by any competent engineer7 ing entity and reviewed by the Bureau of Reclama8 tion, that includes, among other matters—

9 (A) the total estimated project cost;

10 (B) an analysis showing how the project

11 would reduce, postpone, or eliminate develop12 ment of new or expanded water supplies;

13 (C) a description of conservation measures

14 to be taken pursuant to the project plans;

15 (D) the near- and long-term water demands

16 and supplies in the study area; and

17 (E) engineering plans and designs that

18 demonstrate that the project would provide oper19 ational efficiency improvements or achieve

20 water, energy, or economic savings (or any com21 bination of the foregoing) at a rate of acre feet

22 of water or kilowatt energy saved per dollar ex23 pended on the construction of the project;

24 (2) provide a project plan, including a general

25 map showing the location of the proposed physical
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1 features, conceptual engineering drawings of struc2 tures, and general standards for design; and

3 (3) sign a cost-sharing agreement with the Sec4 retary that commits the non-Federal project sponsor

5 to funding its proportionate share of the project’s con6 struction costs on an annual basis.

7 (d) FINANCIAL CAPABILITY.—Before providing fund8 ing for a project to the non-Federal project sponsor, the Sec9 retary shall determine that the non-Federal project sponsor

10 is financially capable of funding the project’s non-Federal

11 share of the project’s costs.

12 (e) REVIEW PERIOD.—Within 1 year after the date a

13 project is submitted to the Secretary for approval, the Sec14 retary, subject to the availability of appropriations, shall

15 determine whether the project meets the criteria established

16 pursuant to this section.

17 (f) REPORT PREPARATION; REIMBURSEMENT.—

18 Project sponsors may choose to contract with the Secretary

19 to prepare the reports required under this section. All costs

20 associated with the preparation of the reports by the Sec21 retary shall be 50 percent reimbursable by the non-Federal

22 sponsor.

23 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

24 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out

25 this section $2,000,000.
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1 SEC. 4. LOWER RIO GRANDE CONSTRUCTION AUTHORIZA2 TION.

3 (a) PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION.—If the Secretary de4 termines that any of the following projects meet the review

5 criteria and project requirements, as set forth in section 3,

6 the Secretary may conduct or participate in funding engi7 neering work, infrastructure construction, and improve8 ments for the purpose of conserving and transporting raw

9 water through that project:

10 (1) In the Hidalgo County, Texas Irrigation

11 District #1, a pipeline project identified in the

12 Melden & Hunt, Inc. engineering study dated July 6,

13 2000 as the Curry Main Pipeline Project.

14 (2) In the Cameron County, Texas La Feria Ir15 rigation District #3, a distribution system improve16 ment project identified by the 1993 engineering study

17 by Sigler, Winston, Greenwood and Associates, Inc.

18 (3) In the Cameron County, Texas Irrigation

19 District #2 canal rehabilitation and pumping plant

20 replacement as identified as Job Number 48-05540-

21 002 in a report by Turner Collie & Braden, Inc.

22 dated August 12, 1998.

23 (4) In the Harlingen Irrigation District Cam24 eron #1 Irrigation District a project of meter instal25 lation and canal lining as identified in a proposal
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1 submitted to the Texas Water Development Board

2 dated April 28, 2000.

3 (b) CONSTRUCTION COST SHARE.—The non-Federal

4 share of the costs of any construction carried out under,

5 or with assistance provided under, this section shall be 50

6 percent. Not more than 40 percent of the costs of such an

7 activity may be paid by the State. The remainder of the

8 non-Federal share may include in-kind contributions of

9 goods and services, and funds previously spent on feasibility

10 and engineering studies.

11 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is

12 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out

13 this section $10,000,000.

Attest:

Clerk.