II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1473 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of 

Reclamation, to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Madera 

Irrigation District for purposes of supporting the Madera Water Supply 

Enhancement Project. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 24, 2007 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN 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, acting through 

the Bureau of Reclamation, to enter into a cooperative 

agreement with the Madera Irrigation District for purposes of supporting the Madera Water Supply Enhancement Project. 

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 ‘‘Madera Water Supply 

5 Enhancement Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 For the purposes of this Act: 


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1 (1) The term ‘‘District’’ means the Madera Irri2 gation District, Madera, California. 

3 (2) The term ‘‘Project’’ means the Madera 

4 Water Supply Enhancement Project, a groundwater 

5 bank on the 13,646 acre Madera Ranch in Madera, 

6 California, owned, operated, maintained, and man7 aged by the District that will plan, design, and con8 struct recharge, recovery, and delivery systems able 

9 to store up to 250,000 acre-feet of water and recover 

10 up to 55,000 acre-feet of water per year. 

11 (3) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 

12 of the United States Department of the Interior. 

13 (4) The term ‘‘total cost’’ means all reasonable 

14 costs, such as the planning, design, permitting, fi15 nancing, and construction of the Project and the fair 

16 market value of lands used or acquired by the Dis17 trict for the Project. The total cost of the Project 

18 shall not exceed $90,000,000. 

19 SEC. 3. NO FURTHER STUDIES OR REPORTS. 

20 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that the Bureau of 

21 Reclamation and others have conducted numerous studies 

22 regarding the Project, including, but not limited to the 

23 following: 

24 (1) Bureau of Reclamation Technical Review 

25 Groups Final Findings Memorandum, July 1997. 


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1 (2) Bureau of Reclamation Madera Ranch Arti2 ficial Recharge Demonstration Test Memorandum, 

3 December 1997. 

4 (3) Bureau of Reclamation Madera Ranch 

5 Groundwater Bank Phase 1 Report, 1998. 

6 (4) Draft Memorandum Recommendations for 

7 Phase 2 Geohydrologic Work, April 1998. 

8 (5) Bureau of Reclamation Madera Ranch 

9 Water Banking Proposal Economic Analysis—MP– 

10 340. 

11 (6) Hydrologic Feasibility Report, December 

12 2003. 

13 (7) Engineering Feasibility Report, December 

14 2003. 

15 (8) Feasibility Study of the Preferred Alter16 native, Water Supply Enhancement Project, 2005. 

17 (9) Engineering Feasibility Report, June 2005. 

18 (10) Report on Geologic and Hydrologic Test19 ing Program for Madera Ranch. 

20 (11) Engine Driver Study, June 2005. 

21 (12) Wetlands Delineation, 2000, 2001, 2004, 

22 and 2005. 

23 (13) Madera Ranch Pilot Recharge: Interim 

24 Technical Memorandum, May 2005. 


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1 (14) Integrated Regional Water Management 

2 Plan, July 2005. 

3 (15) Certified California Environmental Quality 

4 Act (CEQA) Environmental Impact Report (EIR), 

5 September 2005. 

6 (16) Baseline Groundwater Level Monitoring 

7 Report, January 2006. 

8 (17) Final Appraisal Study, Madera Irrigation 

9 District Water Supply Enhancement Project, Octo10 ber 2006. 

11 (18) WDS Groundwater Monitoring Status Re12 port to Madera Ranch Oversight Committee, Novem13 ber 2006. 

14 (b) NO FURTHER STUDIES OR REPORTS.—Pursuant 

15 to the Reclamation Act of 1902 (32 Stat. 388) and Acts 

16 amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, the Project 

17 is feasible and the Bureau of Reclamation shall not con18 duct any further studies or reports related to determining 

19 the feasibility of the Project. 

20 SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT. 

21 All planning, design, and construction of the Project 

22 authorized by this Act shall be undertaken in accordance 

23 with a cooperative agreement between the Secretary and 

24 the District for the Project. Such cooperative agreement 

25 shall set forth in a manner acceptable to the Secretary 


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1 and the District the responsibilities of the District for par2 ticipating, which shall include— 

3 (1) engineering and design; 

4 (2) construction; and 

5 (3) the administration of contracts pertaining 

6 to any of the foregoing. 

7 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR THE MADERA WATER SUPPLY 

8 AND ENHANCEMENT PROJECT. 

9 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF CONSTRUCTION.—The Sec10 retary, acting pursuant to the Federal reclamation laws 

11 (Act of June 17, 1902; 32 Stat. 388), and Acts amend12 atory thereof or supplementary thereto, as far as those 

13 laws are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, 

14 is authorized to enter into a cooperative agreement 

15 through the Bureau with the District for the support of 

16 the design, and construction of the Project. 

17 (b) COST SHARE.—The Federal share of the capital 

18 costs of the Project shall not exceed 25 percent of the total 

19 cost as defined in section 2(4). Capital, planning, design, 

20 permitting, financing, construction, and land acquisition 

21 costs incurred by the District prior to the date of the en22 actment of this Act shall be considered a portion of the 

23 non-Federal cost share. 


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1 (c) IN-KIND SERVICES.—In-kind services performed 

2 by the District shall be considered a part of the local cost 

3 share to complete the Project authorized by subsection (a). 

4 (d) CREDIT FOR NON-FEDERAL WORK.—The Dis5 trict shall receive credit toward the non-Federal share of 

6 the cost of the Project for— 

7 (1) reasonable costs incurred by the District as 

8 a result of participation in the planning, design, per9 mitting, financing, and construction of the Project; 

10 and 

11 (2) for the fair market value of lands used or 

12 acquired by the District for the Project. 

13 (e) LIMITATION.—The Secretary shall not provide 

14 funds for the operation or maintenance of the Project au15 thorized by this section. The operation, ownership, and 

16 maintenance of the Project shall be the sole responsibility 

17 of the District. 

18 (f) PLANS AND ANALYSES CONSISTENT WITH FED19 ERAL LAW.—Before obligating funds for design or con20 struction under this section, the Secretary shall work co21 operatively with the District to use, to the extent possible, 

22 plans, designs, and engineering and environmental anal23 yses that have already been prepared by the District for 

24 the Project. The Secretary shall ensure that such informaVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:05 May 27, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1473.IS S1473

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1 tion as is used is consistent with applicable Federal laws 

2 and regulations. 

3 (g) TITLE; RESPONSIBILITY; LIABILITY.—Nothing in 

4 this section or the assistance provided under this section 

5 shall be construed to transfer title, responsibility or liabil6 ity related to the Project to the United States. 

7 (h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION.—There is 

8 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

9 out this Act $22,500,000 or 25 percent of the total cost 

10 of the Project, whichever is less. 

11 SEC. 6. SUNSET. 

12 The authority of the Secretary to carry out any provi13 sions of this Act shall terminate 10 years after the date 

14 of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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