I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1668 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide for suspension 
of application of the Act to water releases by Federal and State agencies 
in river basins that are affected by drought, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 26, 2015 
Mr. MCCLINTOCK introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to provide 
for suspension of application of the Act to water releases 
by Federal and State agencies in river basins that are 
affected by drought, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Save Our Water Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. SUSPENSION OF ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 
1973 FOR WATER MANAGEMENT ACTIONS IN 
AREAS AFFECTED BY DROUGHT. 
Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 
(16 U.S.C. 1539) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(k) SUSPENSION OF APPLICATION WITH RESPECT 
TO CERTAIN FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES DURING 
PERIODS OF DROUGHT.— 
‘‘(1) SUSPENSION.—The application of this Act 
with respect to water releases from water storage fa-
cilities by Federal and State agencies in a navigable 
river basin in a State is suspended during each pe-
riod in which there is in effect a drought in that 
basin. 
‘‘(2) PERIOD
OF
SUSPENSION.—A suspension 
under paragraph (1)— 
‘‘(A) begins on the date on which— 
‘‘(i) the Secretary of the Army, acting 
through the Chief of Engineers, or the 
Secretary of the Interior determines that 
there is a drought in effect in such river 
basin that the U.S. Drought Monitor cat-
egorizes as D2 (Severe Drought), D3 (Ex-
treme 
Drought), 
or 
D4 
(Exceptional 
Drought) conditions; or 
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‘‘(ii) the Governor of the State (or the 
Governor’s designee) determines that there 
is a drought in effect in such river basin; 
and 
‘‘(B) ends on the date on which— 
‘‘(i) in the case of a suspension that 
begins under subparagraph (A)(i), the Sec-
retary that made the determination re-
ferred to in that subparagraph determines 
that the drought is no longer in effect; or 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a suspension that 
begins under subparagraph (A)(ii), the 
Governor determines that the drought is 
no longer in effect. 
‘‘(3) 
PROHIBITION
OF
ENFORCEMENT
BY 
STATE.— 
‘‘(A) PROHIBITION.—Except as provided 
in subparagraph (B), a State may not enforce 
the requirements of this Act with respect to any 
area of the State with respect to which a sus-
pension under paragraph (1) applies. 
‘‘(B) ENFORCEMENT OF STATE LAW NOT 
AFFECTED.—Subparagraph (A) does not affect 
the authority of a State to carry out and en-
force the laws of the State. 
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‘‘(4) EXCEPTED WATER RELEASES.—This sub-
section does not prohibit any release of water from 
a water storage facility for purposes of this Act by 
the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Inte-
rior, or a State if such Secretary or the Governor of 
such State, respectively, certifies that— 
‘‘(A) such release will not cause harm to 
the local, regional, State, or Federal economy; 
and 
‘‘(B) no water conservation measures will 
be required to be taken by any water users as 
a result of such release. 
‘‘(5) U.S. DROUGHT
MONITOR
DEFINED.—In 
this subsection the term ‘U.S. Drought Monitor’ 
means such Monitor jointly produced by the Na-
tional Drought Mitigation Center at the University 
of Nebraska-Lincoln, the Department of Agriculture, 
and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis-
tration.’’. 
Æ 
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