II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1761

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.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 21, 1999

Mrs. HUTCHISON (for herself and Mr. GRAMM) introduced the following bill;

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

A BILL

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.

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 ‘‘Lower Rio Grande Val5 ley Water Resources Conservation and Improvement Act

6 of 1999’’.

7 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

8 In this Act:
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1 (1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the

2 Texas Water Development Board and any other au3 thorized entity of the State of Texas.

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

5 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the

6 Commissioner.

7 (3) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis8 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of the Bureau of

9 Reclamation.

10 (4) COUNTIES.—The term ‘‘counties’’ means

11 the following counties in the State of Texas: Cam12 eron, Hidalgo, Starr, Willacy, Jim Hogg, Zapata,

13 Webb, Maverick, Val Verde, Kinney, Terrell, Brew14 ster, Presidio, Jeff Davis, Hudspeth, and El Paso.

15 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

16 The Congress finds the following:

17 (1) Drought conditions over the last decade

18 have made citizens of the Lower Rio Grande Valley

19 region of Texas aware of the significant impacts a

20 dwindling water supply can have on a region.

21 (2) As a result of the impacts, that region has

22 devised an integrated water resource plan to meet

23 the critical water needs of the Lower Rio Grande

24 Valley through the end of the year 2050.
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1 (3) Implementation of an integrated water re2 source plan to meet the critical water needs of the

3 Lower Rio Grande Valley is in the national interest.

4 (4) The Congress should authorize and provide

5 Federal, technical, and financial assistance to con6 struct improved irrigation canal delivery systems,

7 implement an aggressive water conservation pro8 gram, and improve water management to help meet

9 the critical water needs of the Lower Rio Grande

10 Valley through the end of the year 2050.

11 SEC. 4. LOWER RIO GRANDE WATER CONSERVATION AND

12 IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in cooperation

14 with the Secretary of Agriculture, shall undertake a pro15 gram to improve the supply of water for the counties

16 through the following activities:

17 (1) In cooperation with the State, water users

18 in the counties, and other non-Federal entities, con19 duct feasibility studies, engineering work, and infra20 structure construction and improvements for the

21 purpose of transporting raw water, including the fol22 lowing:

23 (A) Irrigation canals.

24 (B) Pipelines.

25 (C) Flow control structures.
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1 (D) Meters.

2 (E) All associated appurtenances.

3 (2) In cooperation with the Secretary of Agri4 culture, the State, water users in the counties, and

5 other non-Federal entities, enhance water conserva6 tion in the counties through the installation of on7 farm water application metering.

8 (3) In cooperation with the Secretary of Agri9 culture, the State, and other non-Federal entities,

10 enhance water conservation including on-farm instal11 lation of gated and poly-pipe.

12 (4) In cooperation with the Secretary of Agri13 culture, the State, water users in the counties, and

14 other non-Federal entities including institutions of

15 higher education—

16 (A) develop educational programs and im17 plement on-farm training in the use and appli18 cation of state-of-the-art water application and

19 conservation techniques; and

20 (B) provide educational information re21 garding use and application of such techniques

22 to the Commissioners of the International

23 Boundary and Water Commission.
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1 (b) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.—A

2 project shall not be eligible to be implemented under this

3 section unless—

4 (1) the project plan shows an estimate of the

5 amount of water that will be conserved as a result

6 of the project; and

7 (2) the design for the project includes a cost8 of-project-to-water-developed ratio statement.

9 (c) DETERMINATION OF PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.—

10 The responsibility for determining project eligibility under

11 subsection (b) shall be carried out by the State in con12 sultation with the Commissioner.

13 SEC. 5. COST SHARING.

14 The non-Federal share of the costs of any activity

15 carried out under, or with assistance provided under, this

16 Act shall be 40 percent of such costs. Not more than 30

17 percent of the costs of such an activity may be paid by

18 the State. Provision of the remainder of the non-Federal

19 share may include in-kind contributions of goods and serv20 ices.

21 SEC. 6. STUDIES.

22 (a) ALTERNATIVE WATER SUPPLY OPTIONS.—

23 (1) STUDY AND RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Sec24 retary, in cooperation with the Secretary of Agri-
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1 culture, counties, and other non-Federal entities,

2 shall—

3 (A) assess alternative water supply options

4 for the Counties of Maverick, Kinney, Edwards,

5 Val Verde, Terrell, Brewster, Presidio, Jeff

6 Davis, Hudspeth, and El Paso, Texas, for the

7 purpose of alleviating water supply shortages

8 and project water demands; and

9 (B) submit recommendations to the Con10 gress regarding such alternatives.

11 (2) EMPHASIS ON CONSERVATION MEASURES.—

12 Recommendations under subsection (a) shall empha13 size water management actions that encourage the

14 incorporation, by the counties referred to in para15 graph (1)(A) and irrigation districts in those coun16 ties, of prudent and responsible water conservation

17 measures to the extent such measures are shown to

18 be economically feasible.

19 (b) WASTEWATER REUSE.— The Secretary, in co20 operation with the Secretary of Agriculture, the counties

21 referred to in paragraph (1)(A), the State, and other non22 Federal entities, shall assess the feasibility of wastewater

23 reuse for irrigation and groundwater recharge and other

24 nonpotable purposes.

25 (c) COST SHARING.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the

2 cost of any activity under this section shall not ex3 ceed 50 percent.

4 (2) AGREEMENT.—The Secretary may not

5 carry out any activity under this section except

6 under an agreement with a non-Federal entity that

7 has legal authority under the laws of the State to

8 obligate funds or provide in-kind services for such

9 activity, under which the non-Federal entity is obli10 gated to provide the non-Federal share of the cost

11 of the activity.

12 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

13 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec14 retary to carry out this Act $65,200,000.

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