[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 28, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E481]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E481]]
  IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 1261, ENCOURAGING ALTERNATIVE WATER SOURCES FOR 
                          SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. STEPHEN HORN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 28, 2001

  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, in 1996, Congress passed the Reclamation 
Recycling and Water Conservation Act to help western communities 
conserve precious water supplies by encouraging water reuse. The Act 
authorized a number of new projects, including a water desalinization 
project proposed by the city of Long Beach and the Metropolitan Water 
District of Southern California. The Act limited the federal cost share 
requirements to 50 percent of total project costs.
  At the time of the Act's passage, the projected costs for the Long 
Beach desalinization project were estimated to be $27 million. The 
expectation at the time was that the desalinization project would 
process roughly 5 million gallons of water each day. Given the 
limitations in the Act, the federal government's responsibility was 
limited to $13.5 million.
  Since the original authorization, the project's sponsors have 
increased the scope of the project. Today, the plans call for 
processing 40 million gallons of water per day, an eightfold increase 
over the original projections. In turn, this has dramatically increased 
the total project cost, to well over $100 million.
  Private resources have been identified to cover the increase in 
costs. However, there is concern that the federal cost share provision 
may be overly broad, imposing responsibility for up to $50 million on 
the Federal Bureau of Reclamation.
  The legislation that I have introduced today would clarify and 
emphasize that the contribution of the federal government today is 
exactly the same as it was five years ago: not more than $13.5 million. 
It is, quite simply, a technical correction or clarification of the 
original authorization. And, in this day of fiscal restraint, is the 
type of restraining legislation that my colleagues should be eager to 
support. I look forward to working with my colleagues, particularly 
those in water-scarce communities, to enact this legislation and, 
ultimately, to develop alternative water resources.
  H.R. 1261 is below:

                               H.R. 1261

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

     SECTION 1. LIMIT ON FEDERAL COST OF THE LONG BEACH 
                   DESALINIZATION RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
                   PROJECT.

       Section 1605(b)(2) of the Reclamation Projects 
     Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (43 U.S.C. 390h-
     3(b)(2)) is amended by striking ``50 percent of the total'' 
     and inserting ``the lesser of 50 percent of the total or 
     $13,500,000''.

     

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