I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1761

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

OCTOBER 28, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Resources

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.

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 2000’’.
2

S1761 RFH

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

2 In this Act:

3 (1) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the

4 Texas Water Development Board and any other au5 thorized entity of the State of Texas.

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

7 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the

8 Commissioner.

9 (3) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis10 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of the Bureau of

11 Reclamation.

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

13 the counties in the State of Texas in the Rio Grande

14 Regional Water Planning Area known as Region

15 ‘‘M’’ as designated by the Texas Water Development

16 Board and the counties of Hudspeth and El Paso,

17 Texas.

18 SEC. 3. FINDINGS.

19 The Congress finds the following:

20 (1) Drought conditions over the last decade

21 have made citizens of the Lower Rio Grande Valley

22 region of Texas aware of the significant impacts a

23 dwindling water supply can have on a region.

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

25 devised an integrated water resource plan to meet
3

S1761 RFH

1 the critical water needs of the Lower Rio Grande

2 Valley through the end of the year 2050.

3 (3) Implementation of an integrated water re4 source plan to meet the critical water needs of the

5 Lower Rio Grande Valley is in the national interest.

6 (4) The Congress should authorize and provide

7 Federal technical and financial assistance to con8 struct improved irrigation canal delivery systems to

9 help meet the critical water needs of the Lower Rio

10 Grande Valley through the end of the year 2050.

11 SEC. 4. LOWER RIO GRANDE WATER CONSERVATION AND

12 IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM.

13 (a) The Secretary is authorized to undertake a pro14 gram to improve the supply of water for the counties as

15 provided in this Act.

16 (b) In cooperation with the State, water users in the

17 counties, and other non-Federal entities, the Secretary

18 shall conduct feasibility studies for the purpose of con19 serving and transporting raw water, including the

20 following—

21 (1) irrigation canals;

22 (2) pipelines;

23 (3) flow control structures;

24 (4) meters; and

25 (5) all associated appurtenances.
4

S1761 RFH

1 (c) If the Secretary determines that the following

2 projects satisfy the eligibility criteria in subsection (d)

3 (1)–(3), the Secretary, in cooperation with the State,

4 water users in the counties, and other non-Federal enti5 ties, is authorized to conduct engineering work, infrastruc6 ture construction and improvements for the purpose of

7 conserving and transporting raw water through the fol8 lowing projects—

9 (1) in the Hidalgo County, Texas Irrigation

10 District #1, a pipeline project identified in the

11 Melden & Hunt, Inc. engineering study dated July

12 6, 2000 as the Curry Main Pipeline Project;

13 (2) in the Cameron County, Texas La Feria Ir14 rigation District #3, a distribution system improve15 ment project identified by the 1993 engineering

16 study by Sigler, Winston, Greenwood and Associates,

17 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; and

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
5

S1761 RFH

1 submitted to the Texas Water Development Board

2 dated April 28, 2000.

3 (d) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.—(1) Within six months

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in

5 consultation with the State, shall develop criteria for de6 termining eligible projects under this Act. Such criteria

7 shall include, but need not be limited to the following

8 requirements—

9 (A) the project plan includes an engineer’s esti10 mate of the amount of water to be conserved;

11 (B) the design for the project includes a cost of

12 project to water saved ratio; and

13 (C) there is a cost sharing agreement in place

14 between all relevant parties delineating the propor15 tionate share of costs to be paid on an annual basis.

16 (2) Within one year of the date a project is submitted

17 to the Secretary for approval, the Secretary shall deter18 mine whether the project meets the criteria established

19 pursuant to this section.

20 SEC. 5. COST SHARING.

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

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

23 Act shall be 50 percent. Not more than 40 percent of the

24 costs of such an activity may be paid by the State and

25 the remainder of the non-Federal share may include in-
6

S1761 RFH

1 kind contributions of goods and services, and funds pre2 viously spent on feasibility and engineering studies.

3 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

4 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec5 retary to carry out this Act such sums as may be nec6 essary, but not to exceed $7,500,000 for the purposes of

7 section 4(c).

Passed the Senate October 27 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.