I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1212
To authorize the construction of the Fall River Water Users District Rural
Water System and authorize the appropriation of Federal dollars to
assist the Fall River Water Users District, a nonprofit corporation,
in the planning and construction of the water supply system.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 20, 1997
Mr. THUNE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Resources
A BILL
To authorize the construction of the Fall River Water Users
District Rural Water System and authorize the appro-
priation of Federal dollars to assist the Fall River Water
Users District, a nonprofit corporation, in the planning
and construction of the water supply system.
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 ‘‘Fall River Water Users
District Rural Water System Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
(1) there are insufficient water supplies of rea-
sonable quality available to the members of the Fall
River Water Users District Rural Water System lo-
cated in Fall River County, South Dakota, and the
water supplies that are available are of poor quality
and do not meet the minimum health and safety
standards, thereby posing a threat to public health
and safety;
(2) past cycles of severe drought in the south-
eastern area of Fall River county have left local resi-
dents without a satisfactory water supply and during
1990, many home owners and ranchers were forced
to haul water to sustain their water needs;
(3) most members of the Fall River Water
Users District are forced to either haul bottled water
for human consumption or use distillers due to the
poor quality of water supplies available;
(4) the Fall River Water Users District Rural
Water System has been recognized by the State of
South Dakota; and
(5) the best available, reliable, and safe rural
and municipal water supply to serve the needs of the
Fall River Water Users District Rural Water Sys-
tem members consists of a Madison Aquifer well, 3
separate water storage reservoirs, 3 pumping sta-
tions, and approximately 200 miles of pipeline.
(b) PURPOSES.—The Congress declares that the pur-
poses of sections 1 through 13 are to—
(1) ensure a safe and adequate municipal,
rural, and industrial water supply for the members
of the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water
System in Fall River County, South Dakota;
(2) assist the citizens of the Fall River Water
Users District to develop safe and adequate munici-
pal, rural, and industrial water supplies; and
(3) promote the implementation of water con-
servation programs by the Fall River Water Users
District Rural Water System.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act (unless the context clearly re-
quires otherwise):
(1) ENGINEERING REPORT.—The term ‘‘engi-
neering report’’ means the study entitled ‘‘Supple-
mental Preliminary Engineering Report for Fall
River Water Users District’’, as amended in August
1995.
(2) PROJECT
CONSTRUCTION
BUDGET.—The
term ‘‘project construction budget’’ means the de-
scription of the total amount of funds that are need-
(b) SERVICE AREA.—The water supply system shall
provide for safe and adequate municipal, rural, and indus-
trial water supplies, mitigation of wetlands areas; and
water conservation within the boundaries of the Fall River
Water Users District, described as follows: bounded on the
north by the Angostura Reservoir, the Cheyenne River,
and the Fall River/Custer County line, bounded on the
east by the Fall River/Shannon County line, bounded on
the south by the South Dakota/Nebraska State line, and
bounded on the west by the previously established Igloo-
Provo Water Project District.
(c) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—Grants made available
under subsection (a) to the Fall River Water Users Dis-
trict Rural Water System shall not exceed the amount au-
thorized under section 10.
(d) LIMITATION ON AVAILABILITY OF CONSTRUC-
TION FUNDS.—The Secretary shall not obligate funds for
the construction of the water supply system until—
(1) the requirements of the National Environ-
mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)
have been met;
(2) a final engineering report has been prepared
and submitted to the Congress for a period of not
less than 90 days before the commencement of con-
struction of the system; and
(3) a water conservation program has been de-
veloped and implemented under section 5.
SEC. 5. WATER CONSERVATION.
(a) PURPOSE.—The water conservation program re-
quired under this section shall be designed to ensure that
users of water from the water supply system will use the
best practicable technology and management techniques to
conserve water use.
(b) DESCRIPTION.—The water conservation program
shall include—
(1) low consumption performance standards for
all newly installed plumbing fixtures;
(2) leak detection and repair programs;
(3) rate structures that do not include declining
block rate schedules for municipal households and
special water users (as defined in the feasibility
study);
(4) public education programs; and
(5) coordinated operation between the Fall
River Water Users District Rural Water System and
any preexisting water supply facilities within its
service area.
(c) REVIEW AND REVISION.—The program described
in subsection (b) shall contain provisions for periodic re-
view and revision, in cooperation with the Secretary.
SEC. 6. MITIGATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE LOSSES.
Mitigation of fish and wildlife losses incurred as a
result of the construction and operation of the Fall River
Water Users District Rural Water System shall be on an
acre-for-acre basis, based on ecological equivalency, con-
current with project construction, as provided in the fea-
sibility study.
SEC. 7. USE OF PICK-SLOAN POWER.
(a) IN GENERAL.—From power designated for future
irrigation and drainage pumping for the Pick-Sloan Mis-
souri River Basin Program, the Western Area Power Ad-
ministration shall make available the capacity and energy
required to meet the pumping and incidental operational
requirements of the water supply system during the period
beginning May 1, and ending October 31, of each year.
(b) CONDITIONS.—The capacity and energy described
in subsection (a) shall be made available on the following
conditions:
(1) The water supply system shall be operated
on a not-for-profit basis.
(2) The water supply system shall contract to
purchase its entire electric service requirements, in-
cluding the capacity and energy made available
under subsection (a), from a qualified preference
power supplier that itself purchases power from the
Western Area Power Administration.
(3) The rate schedule applicable to the capacity
and energy made available under subsection (a) shall
be the firm power rate schedule of the Pick-Sloan
Eastern Division of the Western Area Power Admin-
istration in effect when the power is delivered by the
Administration.
(4) It shall be agreed by contract among—
(A) the Western Area Power Administra-
tion;
(B) the power supplier with which the
water supply system contracts under paragraph
(2);
(C) the power supplier of the entity de-
scribed in subparagraph (B); and
(D) the Fall River Water Users District,
that in the case of the capacity and energy made
available under subsection (a), the benefit of the
rate schedule described in paragraph (3) shall be
passed through to the water supply system, except
that the power supplier of the water supply system
shall not be precluded from including, in the charges
of the supplier to the water system for the electric
service, the other usual and customary charges of
the supplier.
SEC. 8. NO LIMITATION ON WATER PROJECTS IN STATE.
This Act shall not limit the authorization for water
projects in South Dakota and under law in effect on or
after the date of enactment of this Act.
SEC. 9. WATER RIGHTS.
Nothing in this Act—
(1) invalidates or preempts State water law or
an interstate compact governing water;
(2) alters the rights of any State to any appro-
priated share of the waters of any body of surface
or ground water, whether determined by past or fu-
ture interstate compacts or by past or future legisla-
tive or final judicial allocations;
(3) preempts or modifies any Federal or State
law, or interstate compact, dealing with water qual-
ity or disposal; or
(4) confers on any non-Federal entity the abil-
ity to exercise any Federal right to the waters of any
stream or to any ground water resource.
SEC. 10. FEDERAL COST SHARE.
The Secretary is authorized to provide funds equal
to 80 percent of—
(1) the amount allocated in the total project
construction budget for the planning and construc-
tion of the water supply system under section 4; and