[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1473 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1473

 To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau 
 of Reclamation, to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Madera 
Irrigation District for purposes of supporting the Madera Water Supply 
                          Enhancement Project.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 24, 2007

Mrs. Feinstein introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau 
 of Reclamation, to enter into a cooperative agreement with the Madera 
Irrigation District for purposes of supporting the Madera Water Supply 
                          Enhancement Project.

    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 ``Madera Water Supply Enhancement 
Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    For the purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``District'' means the Madera Irrigation 
        District, Madera, California.
            (2) The term ``Project'' means the Madera Water Supply 
        Enhancement Project, a groundwater bank on the 13,646 acre 
        Madera Ranch in Madera, California, owned, operated, 
        maintained, and managed by the District that will plan, design, 
        and construct recharge, recovery, and delivery systems able to 
        store up to 250,000 acre-feet of water and recover up to 55,000 
        acre-feet of water per year.
            (3) The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the 
        United States Department of the Interior.
            (4) The term ``total cost'' means all reasonable costs, 
        such as the planning, design, permitting, financing, and 
        construction of the Project and the fair market value of lands 
        used or acquired by the District for the Project. The total 
        cost of the Project shall not exceed $90,000,000.

SEC. 3. NO FURTHER STUDIES OR REPORTS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds that the Bureau of Reclamation and 
others have conducted numerous studies regarding the Project, 
including, but not limited to the following:
            (1) Bureau of Reclamation Technical Review Groups Final 
        Findings Memorandum, July 1997.
            (2) Bureau of Reclamation Madera Ranch Artificial Recharge 
        Demonstration Test Memorandum, December 1997.
            (3) Bureau of Reclamation Madera Ranch Groundwater Bank 
        Phase 1 Report, 1998.
            (4) Draft Memorandum Recommendations for Phase 2 
        Geohydrologic Work, April 1998.
            (5) Bureau of Reclamation Madera Ranch Water Banking 
        Proposal Economic Analysis--MP-340.
            (6) Hydrologic Feasibility Report, December 2003.
            (7) Engineering Feasibility Report, December 2003.
            (8) Feasibility Study of the Preferred Alternative, Water 
        Supply Enhancement Project, 2005.
            (9) Engineering Feasibility Report, June 2005.
            (10) Report on Geologic and Hydrologic Testing Program for 
        Madera Ranch.
            (11) Engine Driver Study, June 2005.
            (12) Wetlands Delineation, 2000, 2001, 2004, and 2005.
            (13) Madera Ranch Pilot Recharge: Interim Technical 
        Memorandum, May 2005.
            (14) Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, July 2005.
            (15) Certified California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) 
        Environmental Impact Report (EIR), September 2005.
            (16) Baseline Groundwater Level Monitoring Report, January 
        2006.
            (17) Final Appraisal Study, Madera Irrigation District 
        Water Supply Enhancement Project, October 2006.
            (18) WDS Groundwater Monitoring Status Report to Madera 
        Ranch Oversight Committee, November 2006.
    (b) No Further Studies or Reports.--Pursuant to the Reclamation Act 
of 1902 (32 Stat. 388) and Acts amendatory thereof and supplemental 
thereto, the Project is feasible and the Bureau of Reclamation shall 
not conduct any further studies or reports related to determining the 
feasibility of the Project.

SEC. 4. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.

    All planning, design, and construction of the Project authorized by 
this Act shall be undertaken in accordance with a cooperative agreement 
between the Secretary and the District for the Project. Such 
cooperative agreement shall set forth in a manner acceptable to the 
Secretary and the District the responsibilities of the District for 
participating, which shall include--
            (1) engineering and design;
            (2) construction; and
            (3) the administration of contracts pertaining to any of 
        the foregoing.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION FOR THE MADERA WATER SUPPLY AND ENHANCEMENT 
              PROJECT.

    (a) Authorization of Construction.--The Secretary, acting pursuant 
to the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902; 32 Stat. 388), 
and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto, as far as those 
laws are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, is 
authorized to enter into a cooperative agreement through the Bureau 
with the District for the support of the design, and construction of 
the Project.
    (b) Cost Share.--The Federal share of the capital costs of the 
Project shall not exceed 25 percent of the total cost as defined in 
section 2(4). Capital, planning, design, permitting, financing, 
construction, and land acquisition costs incurred by the District prior 
to the date of the enactment of this Act shall be considered a portion 
of the non-Federal cost share.
    (c) In-Kind Services.--In-kind services performed by the District 
shall be considered a part of the local cost share to complete the 
Project authorized by subsection (a).
    (d) Credit for Non-Federal Work.--The District shall receive credit 
toward the non-Federal share of the cost of the Project for--
            (1) reasonable costs incurred by the District as a result 
        of participation in the planning, design, permitting, 
        financing, and construction of the Project; and
            (2) for the fair market value of lands used or acquired by 
        the District for the Project.
    (e) Limitation.--The Secretary shall not provide funds for the 
operation or maintenance of the Project authorized by this section. The 
operation, ownership, and maintenance of the Project shall be the sole 
responsibility of the District.
    (f) Plans and Analyses Consistent With Federal Law.--Before 
obligating funds for design or construction under this section, the 
Secretary shall work cooperatively with the District to use, to the 
extent possible, plans, designs, and engineering and environmental 
analyses that have already been prepared by the District for the 
Project. The Secretary shall ensure that such information as is used is 
consistent with applicable Federal laws and regulations.
    (g) Title; Responsibility; Liability.--Nothing in this section or 
the assistance provided under this section shall be construed to 
transfer title, responsibility or liability related to the Project to 
the United States.
    (h) Authorization of Appropriation.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this Act $22,500,000 or 25 
percent of the total cost of the Project, whichever is less.

SEC. 6. SUNSET.

    The authority of the Secretary to carry out any provisions of this 
Act shall terminate 10 years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act.
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