to transmission lines of the core system and noncore sys-
tem shall be the responsibility of the entities receiving 
water from the transmission lines. 
SEC. 8. NONDIMINISHMENT OF TIBER RESERVOIR ALLOCA-
TION TO THE TRIBE. 
In providing for the delivery of water to the noncore 
system, the Secretary shall not diminish the 10,000 acre-
feet per year of water stored for the Tribe pursuant to 
section 201 of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of The Rocky 
Boy’s Reservation Indian Reserved Water Rights Settle-
ment and Water Supply Enhancement Act of 1999 (Public 
Law 106–163; 113 Stat. 1789) in Lake Elwell, Lower 
Marias Unit, Upper Missouri Division, Pick-Sloan Mis-
souri Basin Program, Montana. 
SEC. 9. USE OF PICK-SLOAN POWER. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall authorize and 
provide for the use of power from the Pick-Sloan Eastern 
Division to start up and operate the water system and the 
noncore system. 
(b) RESERVATION OF POWER.—The Secretary shall 
reserve, and make available, for the purpose authorized 
by subsection (a)—
(1) during the irrigation season, Pick-Sloan 
Eastern Division power identified for future project 
use pumping; and
(2) during the nonirrigation season, Pick-Sloan 
Eastern Division preference power, to the extent 
that the power is available. 
(c) RATE.—The rate for project use power made 
available under subsection (b) shall be—
(1) during the irrigation season, the project use 
pumping power rate; and 
(2) during the nonirrigation season, the whole-
sale firm power rate. 
(d) ADDITIONAL POWER.—If power in addition to the 
power made available under subsection (b) is required to 
meet the pumping requirements of the service area of the 
water system and the noncore system, the Administrator 
of the Western Area Power Administration may purchase 
the necessary additional power under such terms and con-
ditions as the Administrator determines to be appropriate. 
(e) RECOVERY OF EXPENSES.—Expenses associated 
with power purchases under subsections (a) and (d) shall 
be included in the operation, maintenance, and replace-
ment costs and recovered in accordance with sections 
4(a)(3)(B) and section 5(b)(2). 
SEC. 10. WATER CONSERVATION PLAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Tribe and the Authority shall 
develop a water conservation plan that contains—
(1) a description of water conservation objec-
tives; 
(2) a description of appropriate water conserva-
tion measures; and 
(3) a time schedule for implementing the water 
conservation measures to meet the water conserva-
tion objectives. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The water conservation plan under 
subsection (a) shall be designed to ensure that users of 
water from the core system, on-Reservation water dis-
tribution systems, and the noncore system will use the best 
practicable technology and management techniques to con-
serve water. 
(c) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Section 210(c) of the 
Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (43 U.S.C. 390jj(c)) 
shall apply to an activity authorized under this Act. 
SEC. 11. WATER RIGHTS. 
This Act does not—
(1) impair the validity of or preempt any provi-
sion of State water law or any interstate compact 
governing water; 
(2) alter the right of any State to any appro-
priated share of the water of any body of surface or 
ground water, whether determined by any past or
future interstate compact or by any past or future 
legislative or final judicial allocation; 
(3) preempt or modify any Federal or State law 
or interstate compact concerning water quality or 
disposal; 
(4) confer on any non-Federal entity the au-
thority to exercise any Federal right to the water of 
any stream or to any ground water resource; 
(5) affect any right of the Tribe to water, lo-
cated within or outside the external boundaries of 
the Reservation, based on a treaty, compact, Execu-
tive order, agreement, Act of Congress, aboriginal 
title, the decision in Winters v. United States, 207 
U.S. 564 (1908) (commonly known as the ‘‘Winters 
Doctrine’’), or other law; or 
(6) validate or invalidate any assertion of the 
existence, nonexistence, or extinguishment of any 
water right held or Indian water compact entered 
into by the Tribe or by any other Indian tribe or in-
dividual Indian under Federal or State law. 
SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) CORE SYSTEM.—There are authorized to be ap-
propriated—
(1) $120,000,000 for the planning, design, and 
construction of the core system; and
(2) such sums as are necessary for the oper-
ation, maintenance, and replacement of the water 
system, including power costs of the Western Area 
Power Administration. 
(b) NONCORE SYSTEM.—There is authorized to be 
appropriated $60,000,000 for the planning, design, and 
construction of the noncore system. 
(c) COST INDEXING.—The sums authorized to be ap-
propriated under this section may be increased or de-
creased by such amounts as are justified by reason of ordi-
nary fluctuations in development costs incurred after July 
1, 1997, as indicated by engineering cost indices applica-
ble for the type of construction involved.
Union Calendar No. 445
107TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 1946
[Report No. 107–715] 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to con-
struct the Rocky Boy’s/North Central Montana 
Regional Water System in the State of Montana, 
to offer to enter into an agreement with the 
Chippewa Cree Tribe to plan, design, construct, 
operate, maintain and replace the Rocky Boy’s 
Rural Water System, and to provide assistance to 
the North Central Montana Regional Water Au-
thority for the planning, design, and construction 
of the noncore system, and for other purposes. 
OCTOBER 2, 2002
Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
State of the Union and ordered to be printed