[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2982 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2982

 To amend the Flood Control Act of 1948 with respect to the Middle Rio 
 Grande Project to authorize programs for water conservation, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 25, 2003

   Mr. Udall of New Mexico introduced the following bill; which was 
                 referred to the Committee on Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Flood Control Act of 1948 with respect to the Middle Rio 
 Grande Project to authorize programs for water conservation, and for 
                            other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Middle Rio Grande Emergency Water 
Supply Stabilization Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO FLOOD CONTROL ACT OF 1948.

     The Flood Control Act of 1948 (title II of the Act of June 30, 
1948 (chapter 771; 62 Stat. 1175 et seq.)) is amended--
            (1) by inserting after the title heading the following:

                           ``Subtitle A--'';

            (2) in section 203, under the heading ``RIO GRANDE BASIN'' 
        by striking paragraph (c) and inserting the following:
    ``(c) The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, and in conjunction with 
other interested Federal agencies and the State of New Mexico, is 
directed to make studies to determine feasible and cost-effective ways 
and means of reducing nonbeneficial consumption of water by phreatic 
vegetation in the flood plain of the Rio Grande and its principal 
tributaries above Caballo Reservoir.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:

                             ``Subtitle B--

``SEC. 221. SHORT TITLE.

    ``This subtitle may be cited as the `Middle Rio Grande Emergency 
Water Supply Stabilization Act of 2003'.

``SEC. 222. PURPOSES.

    ``The purposes of this subtitle are to--
            ``(1) authorize the Secretary of the Interior to contribute 
        to a long-term solution for the Middle Rio Grande River in the 
        State of New Mexico by preventing, reducing, or eliminating 
        wasteful depletion of waters;
            ``(2) encourage the implementation of water conservation 
        measures that will improve water quantity and water quality 
        conditions needed to support a living river environment for the 
        Middle Rio Grande River, with resultant conservation, 
        recreation, and other public benefits; and
            ``(3) achieve quantifiable improvements in irrigation 
        efficiencies of not less than 10 percent above the year 2002-
        2003 baseline conditions within three years of the date of 
        enactment of this subtitle, and not less than 20 percent 
        improvement in irrigation efficiencies within six years of the 
        date of enactment of this subtitle.
            ``(4) confirm the original intentions of Congress as set 
        forth in the Colorado River Storage Project Act (Act of April 
        11, 1956, 43 U.S.C. 620g), directing the Secretary `to 
        investigate, plan, construct, operate, and maintain (1) public 
        recreational facilities on lands withdrawn or acquired for the 
        development of said project or of said participating projects, 
        to conserve the scenery, the natural, historic, and archeologic 
        objects, and the wildlife on said lands, and to provide for 
        public use and enjoyment of the same and of the water areas 
        created by these projects by such means as are consistent with 
        the primary purposes of said projects; and (2) facilities to 
        mitigate losses of, and improve conditions for, the propagation 
        of fish and wildlife', and the authorization for the initial 
        stage of the San Juan-Chama Project (Act of June 13, 1962, 
        Public Law 87-483 (76 Stat. 96)), directing the Secretary `to 
        construct, operate, and maintain the initial stage of the San 
        Juan-Chama Project, Colorado-New Mexico, for the principal 
        purposes of furnishing water supplies . . . in the Rio Grande 
        Basin and . . . in the existing Middle Rio Grande Conservancy 
        District and for municipal, domestic, and industrial uses, and 
        providing recreation and fish and wildlife benefits.'.

``SEC. 223. DEFINITIONS.

    ``In this subtitle:
            ``(1) Eligible entities.--The term `eligible entities' 
        means organizations, municipalities, Indian Tribes or Pueblos, 
        individuals, or other entities who use agricultural or 
        municipal and industrial water from the Rio Grande River and 
        its tributaries in New Mexico, including water supplied 
directly or indirectly from the Middle Rio Grande Project or the San 
Juan-Chama Project.
            ``(2) Program.--The term `program' means the Middle Rio 
        Grande Water Supply Stabilization Program established under 
        section 224.
            ``(3) Secretary.--The term `Secretary' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of the Bureau 
        of Reclamation.
            ``(4) State.--The term `State' means the State of New 
        Mexico.

``SEC. 224. WATER CONSERVATION.

    ``(a) Establishment of Water Supply Stabilization Program.--
            ``(1) The Secretary, in cooperation with the State and the 
        Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Act Collaborative Program, 
        shall establish a program to provide financial and technical 
        assistance to promote and encourage the adoption and 
        implementation of water conservation measures within the Rio 
        Grande Basin in New Mexico, to be known as the Middle Rio 
        Grande Water Supply Stabilization Program.
            ``(2) The Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) enter into cost sharing and other agreements 
                with the State and other entities as may be necessary 
                under the Program;
                    ``(B) contribute a share not to exceed 75 percent 
                of the costs of administering and implementing the 
                Program, subject to the provisions and limitations of 
                subsection (b) of this section; and
                    ``(C) provide water conservation technical 
                assistance to the State and the Middle Rio Grande 
                Conservancy District as may be appropriate in 
                furtherance of the purposes of this subtitle.
            ``(3) The Program shall include, at a minimum, to 
        accomplish the purposes of this subtitle--
                    ``(A) in accordance with subsection (b), irrigation 
                efficiency infrastructure improvements or other 
                agricultural water conservation measures;
                    ``(B) incentives or other measures to encourage 
                conversions from production of water-intensive crops to 
                crops that require less water;
                    ``(C) measures to improve and encourage municipal 
                and industrial water conservation programs including 
                programs specifically designed to reduce consumptive 
                water use from manufacturing processes;
                    ``(D) incentives or other measures to encourage the 
                lease, purchase, dry-year optioning, or dedication of 
                water or water rights to meet the purposes of this 
                subtitle;
                    ``(E) establishment of a State program under which 
                the State holds and enforces water rights leased, 
                purchased, dry-year optioned, or otherwise dedicated to 
                provide water supplies to meet the purposes of this 
                subtitle;
                    ``(F) designation of a State agency to--
                            ``(i) administer the Program, and to 
                        receive Federal financial contributions which 
                        may be appropriated pursuant to this subtitle;
                            ``(ii) establish guidelines and procedures 
                        for approving and funding eligible water 
                        conservation projects or measures in a timely 
                        and cost-effective manner; and
                            ``(iii) ensure that each lease, purchase, 
                        dry-year optioning, and dedication of water and 
                        water rights is consistent with State water law 
                        and the purposes of this subtitle; and
                    ``(G) procedures to consider and incorporate the 
                views and recommendations of the Middle Rio Grande 
                Endangered Species Act Collaborative Program, to the 
                extent those views and recommendations are consistent 
                with the purposes of this subtitle.
    ``(b) Irrigation Efficiency Infrastructure and Measures.--
            ``(1) In general.--The following agricultural water 
        conservation projects or measures are eligible to receive cost-
        shared Federal financial assistance under the Program:
                    ``(A) The cost of converting from production of a 
                water-intensive crop to a crop that requires less 
                water.
                    ``(B) The cost of eligible on-farm and off-farm 
                irrigation efficiency infrastructure and measures 
                described in paragraph (2) if not less than 70 percent 
                of the water conserved as a result of the irrigation 
                efficiency infrastructure and measures is permanently 
                allocated, directly or indirectly, to storage in the 
                conservation pool referred to in section 226 or 
                otherwise made available for release into the Rio 
                Grande River to support a living river environment for 
                the Middle Rio Grande River and to provide 
                conservation, recreation, and other public benefits.
            ``(2) Eligible irrigation efficiency infrastructure and 
        measures.--Eligible irrigation efficiency infrastructure and 
        measures referred to in paragraph (1) are--
                    ``(A) lining of canals and ditches, insulation of 
                piping, and installation of ditch portals or gates;
                    ``(B) tail water return systems;
                    ``(C) low-energy precision applications;
                    ``(D) low-flow irrigation systems, including drip 
                and trickle systems and micro-sprinkler systems;
                    ``(E) spray jets or nozzles that improve water 
                distribution efficiency;
                    ``(F) surge valves;
                    ``(G) conversion from gravity or flood irrigation 
                to low-flow sprinkler or drip irrigation systems;
                    ``(H) intake screens, fish passages, and conversion 
                of diversions to pumps;
                    ``(I) alternate furrow wetting, irrigation 
                scheduling, and similar measures;
                    ``(J) water measuring devices; and
                    ``(K) such other irrigation efficiency 
                infrastructure and measures as the Secretary determines 
                to be appropriate to carry out the program.
    ``(c) Control of Phreatic Vegetation.--
            ``(1) The Secretary shall, immediately upon enactment of 
        this Act, cooperate with the State of New Mexico, water user 
        organizations, and affected landowners to develop and implement 
        a comprehensive and cost-effective program to identify, remove, 
        and control phreatic vegetation in the floodplain of the Rio 
        Grande River and its principal tributaries above Caballo 
        Reservoir within the State of New Mexico, and to replant and 
        reestablish native vegetation as appropriate.
            ``(2) In carrying out the requirements of paragraph 1, the 
        Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) ensure that state-of-the-art and 
                scientifically defensible methods to remove, control, 
                and dispose of phreatic vegetation are used;
                    ``(B) ensure that labor forces from local 
                communities and Pueblos are, to the extent possible, 
                employed to implement this section; and
                    ``(C) enter into cost-sharing agreement with the 
                State of New Mexico as may be required to carry out the 
                purposes of this section.
            ``(3) The Secretary is prohibited from removing vegetation 
        unless the Secretary has entered into agreements with private 
        landowners providing for permission to enter private lands to 
        remove and control phreatic vegetation and to reestablish 
        native vegetation.
            ``(4) The Secretary shall, in cooperation with the 
        Secretary of Agriculture, the State of New Mexico, and water 
        users within the floodplain of the Rio Grande River and its 
        tributaries within the State of New Mexico, quantify water 
        salvaged by removal and control of phreatic vegetation under 
        this section.
            ``(5) The Secretary is authorized to enter into agreements 
        for the long-term lease or purchase of water salvaged by the 
        control and elimination of phreatic vegetation, such water to 
        remain available to meet the purposes of this Act.

``SEC. 225. COST SHARING.

    ``(a) Non-Federal Share.--The non-Federal share of the cost of 
implementing municipal and industrial water conservation programs and 
projects for converting from production of a water-intensive crop to a 
crop that requires less water, or of an irrigation efficiency 
infrastructure measure assisted under section 224(b)--
            ``(1) shall be not less than 25 percent; and
            ``(2) shall be paid by--
                    ``(A) the State;
                    ``(B) an owner or operator of a farm or ranch 
                (including an Indian tribe);
                    ``(C) a nonprofit organization; or
                    ``(D) and other appropriate entity, as determined 
                by the State.
    ``(b) Increased Non-Federal Share.--If an owner or operator of a 
farm or ranch pays 50 percent or more of the cost of converting from 
production of a water-intensive crop to a crop that requires less 
water, or of an irrigation efficiency infrastructure or measure, the 
owner or operator shall retain the right to use 50 percent of the water 
conserved by the conversion, infrastructure, or measure, as determined 
by the State.

``SEC. 226. PERMANENT CONSERVATION POOL.

    ``At the request of the State and to carry out the purposes of this 
subtitle, the Secretary is authorized to--
            ``(1) establish a permanent conservation pool for storage 
        of Rio Grande or San Juan-Chama water, to be established in one 
        or more reservoirs operated by the Bureau of Reclamation or the 
        U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or to otherwise cooperate with 
        the State in the establishment of such conservation pool; and
            ``(2) store water salvaged from implementation of water 
        conservation measures authorized by this subtitle in the pool 
        referred to in subsection (a) for release to the Rio Grande 
        River to meet the purposes of this subtitle.

``SEC. 227. MIDDLE RIO GRANDE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT COLLABORATIVE 
              PROGRAM.

    ``The Secretary and the Secretary of the Army shall participate in 
the Middle Rio Grande Endangered Species Act Collaborative Program 
under the terms and conditions outlined in the Memorandum of 
Understanding signed by representatives of the Secretary and the 
Secretary of the Army on April 23, 2002, or as that agreement may be 
modified by future agreements of the signatory parties.

``SEC. 228. WATER RIGHTS OF INDIAN TRIBES AND PUEBLOS.

    ``(a) The Secretary shall, for the benefit of Indian Tribes and 
Pueblos with unquantified and unadjudicated water rights within the 
Middle Rio Grande Basin in New Mexico, provide direct financial 
assistance to such Tribes and Pueblos, for the purposes of determining 
and quantifying Indian water rights and water requirements, and for 
conducting other water resource studies as may be necessary for the 
benefit of Tribes and Pueblos.
    ``(b) The financial assistance provided pursuant to subsection (a) 
of this section shall not be subject to the cost-sharing requirements 
of this subtitle, and shall not be reimbursable or returnable under the 
Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and the 
Acts amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto).

``SEC. 229. REAUTHORIZATION OF WATER DESALINATION ACT OF 1996.

    ``(a) Section 8 of Public Law 104-298 (the Water Desalination Act 
of 1996, as amended) is amended further by--
            ``(1) in paragraph (a) by striking `2004' and inserting in 
        lieu thereof `2008'; and
            ``(2) in paragraph (b) by striking `2004' and inserting in 
        lieu thereof `2008'.
    ``(b) In carrying out the provisions of the Water Desalination Act 
of 1996, as amended, the Secretary shall consult with the Middle Rio 
Grande Endangered Species Act Collaborative Program, and shall solicit 
proposals for research and project development, including demonstration 
projects and permanent projects, applicable to resolution of water 
supply concerns in the Middle Rio Grande Basin.

``SEC. 230. STATE WATER LAW AND OTHER REQUIREMENTS.

    ``Nothing in this subtitle--
            ``(1) preempts any State water law or any interstate 
        compact;
            ``(2) affects any litigation concerning the entitlement to, 
        or lack of entitlement to, water that is pending as of the date 
        of enactment of this section;
            ``(3) expands, alters, or otherwise affects the existence 
        or scope of any water right of any individual (except to the 
        extent that the individual agrees otherwise under the Program); 
        or
            ``(4) authorizes or entitles the Federal Government to hold 
        or purchase any water right.

``SEC. 231. PROTECTION OF PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS.

    ``(a) Willing Sellers and Lessors.--The Secretary may enter into an 
agreement for the sale or lease of water pursuant to this subtitle only 
if each eligible entity that is a party to the agreement is a willing 
seller or willing lessor.
    ``(b) Property Rights.--Nothing in this subtitle authorizes the 
condemnation of private property.

``SEC. 232. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    ``(a) There is hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as 
may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this subtitle.
    ``(b) The Federal share of costs associated with the studies 
authorized by paragraph (c) under the heading `RIO GRANDE BASIN' in 
section 203 shall not be reimbursable or returnable under the Federal 
reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and the Acts 
amendatory thereof and supplementary thereto). The Federal share of 
costs associated with the administration and implementation of the 
water supply stabilization program authorized in section 224 shall not 
be reimbursable or returnable under the Federal reclamation laws (Act 
of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and the Acts amendatory thereof and 
supplementary thereto).''.
                                 <all>