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Union Calendar No. 441 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4389 

[Report No. 108–718, Part 1] 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct facilities to provide 

water for irrigation, municipal, domestic, military, and other uses from 

the Santa Margarita River, California, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 19, 2004 

Mr. ISSA introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for 

a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 

consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

OCTOBER 4, 2004 

Reported from the Committee on Resources 

OCTOBER 4, 2004 

Referral to the Committee on Armed Services extended for a period ending 

not later than October 4, 2004 

OCTOBER 4, 2004 

The Committee on Armed Services discharged; committed to the Committee 

of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct facilities to provide water for irrigation, municipal, domestic, 
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military, and other uses from the Santa Margarita River, 

California, 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. DEFINITIONS. 

4 For the purposes of this section, the following defini5 tions apply: 

6 (1) DISTRICT.—The term ‘‘District’’ means the 

7 Fallbrook Public Utility District, San Diego County, 

8 California. 

9 (2) PROJECT.—The term ‘‘Project’’ means the 

10 impoundment, recharge, treatment, and other facili11 ties the construction, operation, and maintenance of 

12 which is authorized under subsection (b). 

13 SEC. 2. AUTHORIZATION FOR CONSTRUCTION OF LOWER 

14 SANTA MARGARITA CONJUNCTIVE USE 

15 PROJECT. 

16 (a) AUTHORIZATION.—The Secretary, acting pursu17 ant to the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 

18 1902; 32 Stat. 388), and Acts amendatory thereof or sup19 plementary thereto, as far as those laws are not incon20 sistent with the provisions of this Act, is authorized to 

21 construct, operate, and maintain to make the yield of the 

22 Lower Santa Margarita Conjunctive Use Project to be lo23 cated below the confluence of De Luz Creek with the 

24 Santa Margarita River on Camp Joseph H. Pendleton, the 
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1 Fallbrook Annex of the Naval Weapons Station, and sur2 rounding lands within the service area of the District 

3 available for irrigation, municipal, domestic, military, and 

4 other uses for the District and such other users as herein 

5 provided. 

6 (b) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary of the Interior may 

7 construct the Project only after the Secretary of the Inte8 rior determines that the following conditions have oc9 curred: 

10 (1) The District has entered into a contract 

11 under section 9(d) of the Reclamation Project Act of 

12 1939 to repay to the United States appropriate por13 tions, as determined by the Secretary, of the actual 

14 costs of constructing, operating, and maintaining the 

15 Project, together with interest as hereinafter pro16 vided. 

17 (2) The officer or agency of the State of Cali18 fornia authorized by law to grant permits for the ap19 propriation of water has granted such permits to the 

20 Bureau of Reclamation for the benefit of the De21 partment of the Navy and the District as permitees 

22 for rights to the use of water for storage and diver23 sion as provided in this Act, including approval of all 

24 requisite changes in points of diversion and storage, 

25 and purposes and places of use. 
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1 (3) The District has agreed that it will not as2 sert against the United States any prior appropria3 tive right the District may have to water in excess 

4 of the quantity deliverable to it under this Act, and 

5 will share in the use of the waters impounded by the 

6 Project on the basis of equal priority and in accord7 ance with the ratio prescribed in section 4(b). This 

8 agreement and waiver and the changes in points of 

9 diversion and storage under paragraph (2), shall be10 come effective and binding only when the Project 

11 has been completed and put into operation. 

12 (4) The Secretary of the Interior has deter13 mined that the Project has economic and engineer14 ing feasibility. 

15 SEC. 3. COSTS. 

16 The Department of the Navy shall not be responsible 

17 for any costs in connection with the Project, except upon 

18 completion and then shall be charged in reasonable pro19 portion to its use of the Project under regulations agreed 

20 upon by the Secretary of the Navy and Secretary of the 

21 Interior. 

22 SEC. 4. OPERATION; YIELD ALLOTMENT; DELIVERY. 

23 (a) OPERATION.—The operation of the Project may 

24 be by the Secretary of the Interior or otherwise as agreed 

25 upon by the Secretaries of the Interior and the Navy and 
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1 the District, under regulations satisfactory to the Sec2 retary of the Navy with respect to the Navy’s share of 

3 the impounded water and national security. 

4 (b) YIELD ALLOTMENT.—Except as otherwise agreed 

5 between the parties, the Department of the Navy and the 

6 District shall participate in the water impounded by the 

7 Project on the basis of equal priority and in accordance 

8 with the following ratio: 

9 (1) 60 percent of the Project’s yield is allotted 

10 to the Secretary of the Navy. 

11 (2) 40 percent of the Project’s yield is allotted 

12 to the District. 

13 (c) CONTRACTS FOR DELIVERY OF WATER.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of the Navy 

15 certifies that the Secretary does not have immediate 

16 need for any portion of the 60 percent yield allotted 

17 under subsection (b), the official agreed upon to ad18 minister the Project may enter into temporary con19 tracts for the delivery of the excess water. 

20 (2) FIRST RIGHT FOR EXCESS WATER.—The 

21 first right of the Secretary of the Navy to demand 

22 that water without charge and without obligation on 

23 the part of the United States after 30 days notice 

24 shall be included as a condition of contracts entered 

25 into under this subsection. The first right to water 
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1 available under paragraph (1) shall be given the Dis2 trict, if otherwise consistent with the laws of the 

3 State of California. 

4 (3) DISPOSITION OF FUNDS.—Moneys paid in 

5 to the United States under a contract under this 

6 subsection shall be covered into the general Treasury 

7 or to the Secretary of the Navy, as services in lieu 

8 of payment for operation and maintenance of the 

9 Project, and shall not be applied against the indebt10 edness of the District to the United States. 

11 (4) MODIFICATION OF RIGHTS AND OBLIGA12 TIONS RELATED TO WATER YIELD.—The rights and 

13 obligations of the United States and the District re14 garding the ratio or amounts of Project yield deliv15 ered may be modified by an agreement between the 

16 parties. 

17 SEC. 5. REPAYMENT OBLIGATION OF THE DISTRICT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The general repayment obligation 

19 of the District (which shall include interest on the 

20 unamortized balance of construction costs of the Project 

21 allocated to municipal and domestic waters at a rate equal 

22 to the average rate, which rate shall be certified by the 

23 Secretary of the Treasury, on the long-term loans of the 

24 United States outstanding on the date of this Act) to be 

25 undertaken pursuant to section 2 shall be spread in an-
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1 nual installments, which need not be equal, over a period 

2 of not more than 56 years, exclusive of the development 

3 period, or as near thereto as is consistent with the oper4 ation of a formula, mutually agreeable to the parties, 

5 under which the payments are varied in the light of factors 

6 pertinent to the irrigators’ ability to pay. 

7 (b) DEVELOPMENT PERIOD.—The development pe8 riod shall begin in the year in which water for use by the 

9 District is first available, as announced by the Secretary 

10 of the Interior or the Treasury, and shall end in the year 

11 in which the Project’s yield to the District exceeds 6,000 

12 acre-feet per annum. During the development period water 

13 shall be delivered to the District under annual water rental 

14 notices at rates fixed by the Secretary of the Interior or 

15 the Treasury and payable in advance, and any moneys col16 lected in excess of operation and maintenance costs shall 

17 be credited to repayment of the capital costs chargeable 

18 to the District and the repayment period fixed herein shall 

19 be reduced proportionately. 

20 (c) MODIFICATION OF RIGHTS AND OBLIGATION BY

21 AGREEMENT.—The rights and obligations of the United 

22 States and the District regarding the repayment obliga23 tion of the District may be modified by an agreement be24 tween the parties. 
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1 SEC. 6. TRANSFER OF CARE, OPERATION, AND MAINTE2 NANCE. 

3 The Secretary may transfer to the District, or a mu4 tually agreed upon third party, the care, operation, and 

5 maintenance of the Project under conditions satisfactory 

6 to that Secretary and the District, and with respect to 

7 the portion of the Project that is located within the bound8 aries of Camp Pendleton, satisfactory also to the Secretary 

9 of the Navy. If such a transfer takes place, the District 

10 shall be entitled to an equitable credit for the costs associ11 ated with the Secretary’s proportionate share of the oper12 ation and maintenance of the Project. The amount of such 

13 costs shall be applied against the indebtedness of the Dis14 trict to the United States. 

15 SEC. 7. SCOPE OF ACT. 

16 For the purpose of this Act, the basis, measure, and 

17 limit of all rights of the United States pertaining to the 

18 use of water shall be the laws of the State of California. 

19 That nothing in this Act shall be construed— 

20 (1) as a grant or a relinquishment by the 

21 United States of any rights to the use of water that 

22 it acquired according to the laws of the State of 

23 California, either as a result of its acquisition of the 

24 lands comprising Camp Joseph H. Pendleton and 

25 adjoining naval installations, and the rights to the 

26 use of water as a part of that acquisition, or through 
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1 actual use or prescription or both since the date of 

2 that acquisition, if any; 

3 (2) to create any legal obligation to store any 

4 water in the Project, to the use of which the United 

5 States has such rights; 

6 (3) to constitute a recognition of, or an admis7 sion that, the District has any rights to the use of 

8 water in the Santa Margarita River, which rights, if 

9 any, exist only by virtue of the laws of the State of 

10 California; or 

11 (4) to require the division under this Act of 

12 water to which the United States has such rights. 

13 SEC. 8. LIMITATIONS ON OPERATION AND ADMINISTRA14 TION. 

15 Unless otherwise agreed by the Secretary of the 

16 Navy, the Project— 

17 (1) shall be operated in a manner which allows 

18 the free passage of all of the water to the use of 

19 which the United States is entitled according to the 

20 laws of the State of California either as a result of 

21 its acquisition of the lands comprising Camp Joseph 

22 H. Pendleton and adjoining naval installations, and 

23 the rights to the use of water as a part of those ac24 quisitions, or through actual use or prescription, or 

25 both, since the date of that acquisition, if any; and 
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1 (2) shall not be administered or operated in any 

2 way which will impair or deplete the quantities of 

3 water the use of which the United States would be 

4 entitled under the laws of the State of California 

5 had the Project not been built. 

6 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 There is authorized to be appropriated, out of any 

8 money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise 

9 appropriated, the following: 

10 (1) $60,000,000 (the current estimated con11 struction cost of the Project, plus or minus such 

12 amounts as may be indicated by the engineering cost 

13 indices for this type of construction); and 

14 (2) such sums as may be required to operate 

15 and maintain the said project. 

16 SEC. 10. REPORTS TO CONGRESS. 

17 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

18 of this Act and periodically thereafter, the Attorney Gen19 eral, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of 

20 the Navy shall each report to the Congress regarding if 

21 the conditions specified in section 2(b) have been met and 

22 if so, the details of how they were met. 

Union Calendar No. 441 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4389 

[Report No. 108–718, Part 1] 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to confor other purposes. from the Santa Margarita River, California, and municipal, domestic, military, and other uses struct facilities to provide water for irrigation, 

OCTOBER 4, 2004 

Reported from the Committee on Resources 

Referral to the Committee on Armed Services extended 

for a period ending not later than October 4, 2004 

The Committee on Armed Services discharged; committed 

the Union and ordered to be printed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of