[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 10, 1996)]
[House]
[Pages H10156-H10157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  EMERGENCY DROUGHT RELIEF ACT OF 1996

  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3910) to provide emergency drought relief to the city of 
Corpus Christi, TX, and the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, 
TX, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3910

       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 ``Emergency Drought Relief Act 
     of 1996''.

     SEC. 2. EMERGENCY DROUGHT RELIEF

       (a) Corpus Christi.--
       (1) Emergency drought relief.--For the purpose of providing 
     emergency drought relief, the Secretary of the Interior shall 
     defer all principal and interest payments without penalty or 
     accrued interest for the 5-year period beginning on the date 
     of enactment of this Act for the city of Corpus Christi, 
     Texas, and the Nueces River Authority under contract No. 6-
     07-01-X0675 involving the Nueces River Reclamation Project, 
     Texas: Provided, That the city of Corpus Christi shall commit 
     to use the funds thus made available exclusively for the 
     acquisition of or construction of facilities related to 
     alternative sources of water supply.
       (2) Issuance of permits.--If construction of facilities 
     related to alternative water supplies referred to in 
     paragraph (1) requires a Federal permit for use of Bureau of 
     Reclamation lands or facilities, the Secretary shall issue 
     such permits within 90 days after the date of enactment of 
     this Act, recognizing the environmental impact statement 
     FES74-54 and the environmental assessment dated March 1991 
     (relating to the Lavaca-Navidad River Authority Pipeline 
     permit).
       (b) Canadian River Municipal Water Authority.--
       (1) Recognition of transfer of lands to the national park 
     service.--All obligations and associated debt under contract 
     No. 14-06-500-485 for land and related relocations 
     transferred to the National Park Service to form the Lake 
     Meredith National Recreation Area under Public Law 101-628, 
     in the amount of $4,000,000, shall be nonreimbursable. The 
     Secretary shall recalculate the repayment schedule of the 
     Canadian River Municipal Water Authority to reflect the 
     determination of the preceding sentence and to implement the 
     revised repayment schedule within one year of the date of 
     enactment of this Act.
       (2) Emergency drought relief.--The Secretary shall defer 
     all principal and interest payments without penalty or 
     accrued interest for the 3-year period beginning on the date 
     of enactment of this Act for the Canadian River Municipal 
     Water Authority under contract No. 14-06-500-485 as emergency 
     drought relief to enable construction of additional water 
     supply and conveyance facilities.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas [Mr. Thornberry] and the gentleman from Texas [Mr. ortiz] each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Thornberry].
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  (Mr. THORNBERRY asked and was given permission to revise and extend 
his remarks.)
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, at the outset, I would like to thank the 
full committee chairman, the gentleman from Alaska [Mr. Young], and

[[Page H10157]]

the subcommittee chairman, the gentleman from California [Mr. 
Doolittle], for their help on this measure.
  As many of my colleagues know, we have had some severe drought 
conditions in the State of Texas and this bill helps to provide some 
relief to two areas that are particularly affected.
  I also want to express my appreciation to the work of my colleague, 
the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Ortiz]. He has been working on these 
issues for some time and I am certainly grateful for his willingness to 
work together to solve some very real problems that both of us have in 
our regions.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3910 is a bill that addresses some serious water 
problems in Texas. I will leave it to my colleague from Texas to 
discuss the portion of the bill that particularly affects the Corpus 
Christi area, but I know that that part of the State still suffers from 
the effects of drought and has a critical need to develop another water 
supply.
  This bill will help them do that. The bill also allows the Canadian 
River Municipal Water Authority to develop alternative water supplies. 
This bill does not reduce the amount of money that the Canadian water 
authority owes to the Federal Government in the way of repaying the 
debt for construction of the dam for Lake Meredith, but it does 
postpone for 3 years our requirement to make payments and that 
deferment for the 3-year period allows the water authority to develop a 
field of water wells and construct an aqueduct that will get new well 
water to a location where it can be mixed with the water from Lake 
Meredith. That lake is the primary source of drinking water for more 
than 500,000 people in my area. It has not produced the amount of water 
expected and the severe drought earlier this year certainly caused 
additional problems. But the quality of the drinking water is also a 
problem.
  The water from Lake Meredith does not meet the drinking water 
standards recommended by either the EPA or the Texas Department of 
Health. Only by mixing the lake water with well water is it really fit 
to drink.
  This bill will allow that mixing which is required to be made by 
freeing up some funds to be used for the other project. The bill also 
reimburses the water authority for land which was transferred to the 
National Park Service several years ago. Every one, including the 
Bureau of Reclamation agrees that compensation is due for the loss of 
control of that land by the water authority. This was approximately 6 
years ago when 43,000 acres was transferred from the water authority to 
create a national recreation area. This bill reimburses the acquisition 
costs which were way back in the early 1960's and relocations costs 
without any adjustment for inflation so that it is a truly minimal 
level of $4 million.
  Mr. Speaker, of course, this bill does not offset all the problems 
that have been experienced because of the drought and other things; but 
it helps, and it does so in a fiscally responsible way. I urge my 
colleagues to approve it.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1645

  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. ORTIZ asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 3910, which 
provides emergency drought relief for the city of Corpus Christi and 24 
other cities in the surrounding area and the Nueces River Authority for 
the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority.
  As many people know, Texas is suffering the effects of a very severe 
drought, and these two areas have been particularly affected.
  Cities in my district have been restricting water use for months, and 
my constituents have lost many cattle and crops in these areas.
  In fact it has been estimated that the drought has cost farmers and 
ranchers $2.4 billion in direct losses.
  Without relief, we will soon be losing jobs and industries.
  In my district, the city of Corpus Christi and the surrounding water 
service area are in an emergency situation.
  Our available water supply is down over 70 percent in the last 36 
months and is projected to be completely depleted within 24 months as 
the current drought continues.
  Our water supply comes from the Nueces River project, a Bureau of 
Reclamation project which has cost considerably more than originally 
contracted and has produced much less water than local leaders were led 
to believe.
  Because of this combination, the city is having trouble finding the 
resources needed to obtain more water reserves.
  H.R. 3910 allows the city of Corpus Christi and the Canadian River 
Authority to defer their principal and interest payments, without 
penalty, on their Bureau of Reclamation water projects.
  This bill will allow them to develop the funding necessary to build 
facilities for the necessary, additional water reserves.
  The bill expedites the permitting process for facilities on Bureau of 
Reclamation property without bypassing the NEPA process.
  It also requires the Bureau to recalculate the repayment schedule of 
the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority to allow for property and 
facilities transferred to the National Park Service.
  I want to thank the chairman of the Subcommittee on Water and Power 
Resources, the gentleman from California [Mr. Doolittle] and of course 
the ranking member, the gentleman from Oregon [Mr. DeFazio] and my good 
friend, the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Thornberry] and members of the 
staff for their work and help with this bill. I also want to thank the 
gentleman from Alaska [Mr. Young] and the ranking member, the gentleman 
from California [Mr. Miller] for their help in bringing this bill to 
the House in a bipartisan effort. I introduced this bill because of the 
importance of the situation in Texas, and I ask for the strong support 
of my colleagues.
  Mr. ORTIZ. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. THORNBERRY. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and 
I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Miller of Florida). The question is on 
the motion offered by the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Thornberry] that 
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3910, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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