I 
108TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4623 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial assistance 
to the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Authority for the planning, 
design, and construction of the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Sys-
tem, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 18, 2004 
Mr. UDALL of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on Resources 
A BILL 
To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial 
assistance to the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Au-
thority for the planning, design, and construction of the 
Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System, 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 ‘‘Eastern New Mexico 
Rural Water System Act of 2004’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) the Entrada Aquifer and the Southern High 
Plains (Ogallala) Aquifer— 
(A) provide 100 percent of the municipal 
and industrial water supplies for communities 
in East Central New Mexico; and 
(B) serve a large majority of the agricul-
tural water users in East Central New Mexico; 
(2) the Entrada and Southern High Plains 
Aquifers are declining in quantity and deteriorating 
in quality; 
(3) despite voluntary conservation efforts and 
improvements in agricultural water use efficiencies, 
current estimates indicate that present levels of 
groundwater use in some areas of eastern New Mex-
ico are not sustainable beyond 12 to 25 years after 
the date of enactment of this Act; 
(4) in 1959, the State of New Mexico began 
construction of the Ute Dam and Reservoir on the 
Canadian River to develop a long-term sustainable 
water supply for eastern New Mexico; 
(5) section 2 of Public Law 89–561 (80 Stat. 
711) authorized the development of a feasibility 
study for a water supply project in eastern New 
Mexico;
(6) since the feasibility study was authorized, a 
number of studies have been completed as part of 
the feasibility study process, including a 1994 study 
by the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission 
estimating the firm annual yield of water from Ute 
Reservoir at 24,000 acre-feet per year; 
(7) in March 1997, the New Mexico Interstate 
Stream Commission and the Ute Water Commission 
entered into an agreement for the purchase of 
24,000 acre-feet of water per year for beneficial con-
sumptive use in eastern New Mexico; 
(8) the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Au-
thority was established to plan, finance, develop, and 
operate the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Sys-
tem; 
(9) the conceptual design report for the Eastern 
New Mexico Rural Water System— 
(A) was finalized in August 2003; 
(B) incorporates a Bureau of Reclamation 
willingness and ability to pay report prepared in 
August 2002; and 
(C) was subject to a peer review process 
that resulted in a supplement to the conceptual 
design report, the Eastern New Mexico Rural
Water System Conceptual Design Peer Review 
Final Report (December 2003); 
(10) the State of New Mexico— 
(A) strongly supports the development of 
the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water System; 
and 
(B) has appropriated amounts to the New 
Mexico Water Trust Fund to assist commu-
nities in eastern New Mexico in securing the fi-
nancial resources necessary to provide an ac-
ceptable cost share for development of the sys-
tem; and 
(11) completion of the Eastern New Mexico 
Rural Water System would provide Quay, Roosevelt, 
and Curry Counties in the State of New Mexico with 
a long-term reliable and renewable source of water 
that would— 
(A) sustain current economic activity; and 
(B) support future economic development 
and growth in the region. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to author-
ize the Secretary of the Interior to provide financial and 
technical assistance to the Eastern New Mexico Rural 
Water Authority to plan, design, and construct the East-
ern New Mexico Rural Water System to provide a long-
term reliable and renewable source of water to commu-
nities in eastern New Mexico. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act, the following definitions apply: 
(1) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ means 
the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Authority, an 
entity formed under State law for the purposes of 
planning, financing, developing, and operating the 
System. 
(2) CONCEPTUAL DESIGN REPORT.—The term 
‘‘Conceptual Design Report’’ means the Eastern 
New Mexico Rural Water System final report dated 
August, 2003, as supplemented by the Eastern New 
Mexico Rural Water System Conceptual Design Peer 
Review Final Report (December 2003). 
(3) 
LOGAN
SEWER
PROJECT.—The 
term 
‘‘Logan sewer project’’ means the project to improve 
the water quality in Ute Reservoir, as described in 
the Village of Logan Wastewater System Prelimi-
nary Engineering Report (November 2003). 
(4) PLAN.—The term ‘‘plan’’ means the oper-
ation, maintenance, and replacement plan required 
by section 5(b)(1). 
(5) PORTALES ENERGY RECOVERY SYSTEM.— 
The term ‘‘Portales energy recovery system’’ means
(9) 
TUCUMCARI
ADVANCED
WASTEWATER 
TREATMENT FACILITY.—The term ‘‘Tucumcari ad-
vanced wastewater treatment facility’’ means the 
project to improve the water quality in the Ute Res-
ervoir, as described in the Eastern New Mexico 
Rural Water System Conceptual Design Peer Review 
Final Report (December 2003). 
(10) UTE
RESERVOIR.—The term ‘‘Ute Res-
ervoir’’ means the impoundment of water created in 
1962 by the construction of the Ute Dam on the Ca-
nadian River, located approximately 32 miles up-
stream of the border between New Mexico and 
Texas. 
SEC. 4. EASTERN NEW MEXICO RURAL WATER SYSTEM. 
(a) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may provide 
financial assistance to the Authority to assist in 
planning, 
designing, 
conducting 
related 
preconstruction activities for, and constructing the 
System. 
(2) USE.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—Any financial assist-
ance provided under paragraph (1) shall be ob-
ligated and expended only in accordance with a
cooperative agreement entered into under sec-
tion 6(a)(2). 
(B) LIMITATIONS.—Financial assistance 
provided under paragraph (1) shall not be 
used— 
(i) for any activity that is inconsistent 
with developing the facilities described in 
the Conceptual Design Report, including 
development of the Logan sewer project; 
and 
(ii) to plan or construct facilities used 
to supply water to supply irrigation for ag-
ricultural purposes. 
(b) COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the 
total cost of any activity or construction carried out 
using amounts made available under this Act shall 
be 80 percent of the total cost of the System. 
(2) SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT COSTS.—For pur-
poses of paragraph (1), the total cost of the System 
shall include any costs incurred by the Authority on 
or after October 1, 2003, for the development of the 
System.
(c) LIMITATION.—No amounts made available under 
this Act may be used for the construction of the System 
until— 
(1) a plan is developed under section 5(b); and 
(2) the Secretary and the Authority have com-
plied with any requirements of the National Envi-
ronmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 
seq.) applicable to the System. 
(d) TITLE TO PROJECT WORKS.—Title to the infra-
structure of the System shall be held by the Authority, 
the Town of Logan, New Mexico, the City of Tucumcari, 
New Mexico, or as may otherwise be specified under State 
law. 
SEC. 5. OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPLACEMENT 
COSTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Authority shall be responsible 
for the annual operation, maintenance, and replacement 
costs associated with the System. 
(b) OPERATION, MAINTENANCE, AND REPLACEMENT 
PLAN.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Authority, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary, shall develop an operation, 
maintenance, and replacement plan that establishes 
the rates and fees for beneficiaries of the System in 
the amount necessary to ensure that the System is
properly maintained and capable of delivering the 
quantities of water described in the Conceptual De-
sign Report. 
(2) MODIFICATIONS.—The allocation of water 
to the communities specified in the Conceptual De-
sign Report may be modified to adjust the rates and 
fees in a manner that ensures that the purposes of 
the plan are addressed. 
SEC. 6. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 
(a) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary may enter 
into any contract, grant, cooperative agreement, or 
other agreement that is necessary to carry out this 
Act. 
(2) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR PROVISION 
OF FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
enter into a cooperative agreement with the Au-
thority to provide financial assistance or any 
other assistance requested by the Authority for 
planning, design, related preconstruction activi-
ties, and construction of the System. 
(B) 
REQUIREMENTS.—The 
cooperative 
agreement entered into under subparagraph (A) 
shall, at a minimum, specify the responsibilities
of the Secretary and the Authority with respect 
to— 
(i) ensuring that the cost-share re-
quirements established by section 4(b) are 
met; 
(ii) completing the planning and final 
design of the System; 
(iii) any environmental and cultural 
resource compliance activities required for 
the System; and 
(iv) the construction of the System. 
(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—At the request of the 
Authority, the Secretary may provide to the Authority any 
technical assistance that is necessary to assist the Author-
ity in planning, designing, constructing, and operating the 
System. 
(c) EFFECT.—Nothing in this Act— 
(1) affects or preempts— 
(A) State water law; or 
(B) an interstate compact relating to the 
allocation of water; or 
(2) confers on any non-Federal entity the abil-
ity to exercise any Federal rights to— 
(A) the water of a stream; or 
(B) any groundwater resource.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Secretary to carry out this Act 
$250,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2005 through 
2016. 
(b) ADJUSTMENTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The amount authorized 
under subsection (a) shall be adjusted as necessary 
to account for increases in development costs after 
the date of enactment of this Act, as determined 
using appropriate engineering cost indices (as deter-
mined by the Secretary). 
(2) ALLOCATION.—The Federal share and non- 
Federal share of the cost increases determined under 
paragraph (1) shall be allocated in accordance with 
the cost-sharing requirements established by section 
4(b). 
(c) NONREIMBURSABLE AMOUNTS.—Amounts made 
available to the Authority in accordance with the cost- 
sharing requirement under section 4(b) shall be non-
reimbursable and nonreturnable to the United States. 
(d) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—At the end of each 
fiscal year, any unexpended funds appropriated pursuant 
to this Act shall be retained for use in future fiscal years 
consistent with the purposes of this Act. 
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