[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 63 (Wednesday, May 14, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4488-S4489]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. JOHNSON (for himself and Mr. Daschle):
  S. 744. A bill to authorize the construction of the Fall River Water 
Users District Rural Water System and authorize financial assistance to 
the Fall River Water Users District, a nonprofit corporation, in the 
planning and construction of the water supply system, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


   THE FALL RIVER WATER USERS DISTRICT RURAL WATER SYSTEM ACT OF 1997

 Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, today I am proud to introduce 
legislation to authorize a critically important rural water system in 
South Dakota, the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System 
Act of 1997. This legislation is strongly supported by local project 
sponsors who have demonstrated that support by agreeing to substantial 
financial contributions from the local level. I am pleased to introduce 
this legislation today, along with my colleague from South Dakota, 
Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. Both Senator Daschle and I were 
sponsors of similar legislation in the 104th Congress, and we will work 
together to enact this necessary rural water legislation in the 105th 
Congress.
  Like many parts of South Dakota, Fall River County has insufficient 
water supplies of reasonable quality available, and the water supplies 
that are available do not meet the minimum health and safety standards. 
In addition to improving the health of residents in the region, I 
strongly believe that these rural drinking water delivery projects will 
help to stabilize the rural economy in both regions. Water is a basic 
commodity and is essential if we are to foster rural development in 
many parts of rural South Dakota, including the Fall River County area.
  Past cycles of severe drought in the southeastern area of Fall River 
County have left local residents without a satisfactory water supply 
and during 1990, many homeowners and ranchers were forced to haul water 
to sustain their water needs.
  Currently, many residents are either using bottled water for human 
consumption or they are using distillers due to the poor quality of the 
water supplies available. After conducting a feasibility study and 
preliminary engineering report, the best available, reliable, and safe 
rural and municipal water supply to serve the needs of the Fall River 
Water Users District consists of a Madison Aquifer well, three separate 
water storage reservoirs, three pumping stations, and approximately 200 
miles of pipeline. The legislation I am introducing today authorizes 
the Bureau of Reclamation to construct a rural water system in Fall 
River County as described above. The Fall River system will serve rural 
residents, as well as the community of Oelrichs and the Angostura State 
Recreation Area.
  Mr. President, South Dakota is plagued by water of exceedingly poor 
quality, and the Fall River County rural water project is an effort to 
help provide clean water--a commodity most of us take for granted--to 
the people of South Dakota. I am a strong believer in the role of the 
Federal Government to help in the delivery of rural water, and I hope 
to continue to advance that agenda both in South Dakota and around the 
country. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I look 
forward to working with my colleagues on the Energy and Natural 
Resources Committee to move forward on enactment as quickly as 
possible.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the text of the bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

[[Page S4489]]

                                 S. 744

       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 ``Fall River Water Users 
     District Rural Water System Act of 1997''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds that--
       (1) there are insufficient water supplies of reasonable 
     quality available to the members of the Fall River Water 
     Users District Rural Water System located in Fall River 
     County, South Dakota, and the water supplies that are 
     available are of poor quality and do not meet minimum health 
     and safety standards, thereby posing a threat to public 
     health and safety;
       (2) past cycles of severe drought in the southeastern area 
     of Fall River County have left residents without a 
     satisfactory water supply, and, during 1990, many home owners 
     and ranchers were forced to haul water to sustain their water 
     needs;
       (3) because of the poor quality of water supplies, most 
     members of the Fall River Water Users District are forced to 
     either haul bottled water for human consumption or use 
     distillers;
       (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 System members consists of a 
     Madison Aquifer well, 3 separate water storage reservoirs, 3 
     pumping stations, and approximately 200 miles of pipeline.
       (b) Purposes.--The purposes of this Act are--
       (1) to 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) to assist the members of the Fall River Water Users 
     District in developing safe and adequate municipal, rural, 
     and industrial water supplies; and
       (3) to promote the implementation of water conservation 
     programs by the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water 
     System.

     SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

       In this Act:
       (1) Engineering report.--The term ``engineering report'' 
     means the study entitled ``Supplemental Preliminary 
     Engineering Report for Fall River Water Users District'' 
     published in August 1995.
       (2) Project construction budget.--The term ``project 
     construction budget'' means the description of the total 
     amount of funds that are needed for the construction of the 
     water supply system, as described in the engineering report.
       (3) Pumping and incidental operational requirements.--The 
     term ``pumping and incidental operational requirements'' 
     means all power requirements that are incidental to the 
     operation of intake facilities, pumping stations, water 
     treatment facilities, cooling facilities, reservoirs, and 
     pipelines to the point of delivery of water by the Fall River 
     Water Users District Rural Water System to each entity that 
     distributes water at retail to individual users.
       (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
     of the Interior, acting through the Director of the Bureau of 
     Reclamation.
       (5) Water supply system.--The term ``water supply system'' 
     means the Fall River Water Users District Rural Water System, 
     a nonprofit corporation, established and operated 
     substantially in accordance with the engineering report.

     SEC. 4. FEDERAL ASSISTANCE FOR WATER SUPPLY SYSTEM.

       (a) In General.--The Secretary shall make grants to the 
     water supply system for the Federal share of the costs of the 
     planning and construction of the water supply system.
       (b) Service Area.--The water supply system shall provide 
     for safe and adequate municipal, rural, and industrial 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 line 
     between Fall River and Custer Counties, bounded on the east 
     by the line between Fall River and Shannon Counties, bounded 
     on the south by the line between South Dakota and Nebraska, 
     and bounded on the west by the Igloo-Provo Water Project 
     District.
       (c) Amount of Grants.--Grants made available under 
     subsection (a) to the water supply system shall not exceed 
     the Federal share under section 9.
       (d) Limitation on Availability of Construction Funds.--The 
     Secretary shall not obligate funds for the construction of 
     the water supply system until--
       (1) the requirements of the National Environmental Policy 
     Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) are met with respect to 
     the water supply system; and
       (2) a final engineering report has been prepared and 
     submitted to Congress for a period of not less than 90 days 
     before the commencement of construction of the system.

     SEC. 5. MITIGATION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE LOSSES.

       Mitigation of fish and wildlife losses incurred as a result 
     of the construction and operation of the water supply system 
     shall be on an acre-for-acre basis, based on ecological 
     equivalency, concurrent with project construction, as 
     provided in the engineering report.

     SEC. 6. USE OF PICK-SLOAN POWER.

       (a) In General.--From power designated for future 
     irrigation and drainage pumping for the Pick-Sloan Missouri 
     River Basin Program, the Western Area Power Administration 
     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, including 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 Administration in effect when the power is 
     delivered by the Administration.
       (4) It shall be agreed by contract among--
       (A) the Western Area Power Administration;
       (B) the power supplier with which the water supply system 
     contracts under paragraph (2);
       (C) the power supplier of the entity described 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. 7. NO LIMITATION ON WATER PROJECTS IN STATE.

       This Act does not limit the authorization for water 
     projects in South Dakota under law in effect on or after the 
     date of enactment of this Act.

     SEC. 8. 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 appropriated 
     share of the waters of any body of surface or ground water, 
     whether determined by past or future interstate compacts or 
     by past or future legislative or final judicial allocations;
       (3) preempts or modifies any Federal or State law, or 
     interstate compact, dealing with water quality or disposal; 
     or
       (4) confers on any non-Federal entity the ability to 
     exercise any Federal right to the waters of any stream or to 
     any ground water resource.

     SEC. 9. FEDERAL SHARE.

       The Federal share under section 4 shall be 80 percent of--
       (1) the amount allocated in the total project construction 
     budget for the planning and construction of the water supply 
     system under section 4; and
       (2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in 
     development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost 
     indices after August 1, 1995.

     SEC. 10. NON-FEDERAL SHARE.

       The non-Federal share under section 4 shall be 20 percent 
     of--
       (1) the amount allocated in the total project construction 
     budget for the planning and construction of the water supply 
     system under section 4; and
       (2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in 
     development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost 
     indices after August 1, 1995.

     SEC. 11. CONSTRUCTION OVERSIGHT.

       (a) Authorization.--The Secretary may provide construction 
     oversight to the water supply system for areas of the water 
     supply system.
       (b) Project Oversight Administration.--The amount of funds 
     used by the Secretary for planning and construction of the 
     water supply system may not exceed an amount equal to 3 
     percent of the amount provided in the total project 
     construction budget for the portion of the project to be 
     constructed in Fall River County, South Dakota.

     SEC. 12. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       There are authorized to be appropriated--
       (1) $3,600,000 for the planning and construction of the 
     water system under section 4; and
       (2) such sums as are necessary to defray increases in 
     development costs reflected in appropriate engineering cost 
     indices after August 1, 1995.

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