[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 41 (Tuesday, April 4, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Page S2804]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SMITH (for himself and Mr. Wyden):
  S. 2502. A bill to provide for the modification of an amendatory 
repayment contract between the Secretary of the Interior and the North 
Unit Irrigation District, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation that 
will provide a win-win for the environment and for the farmers and 
ranchers who receive their irrigation water from the North Unit 
Irrigation District in central Oregon. My colleague, Senator Ron Wyden, 
joins me in cosponsoring this bill. Companion legislation is also being 
introduced today in the House of Representatives by Congressman Greg 
Walden.
  This legislation represents an opportunity to benefit nearly nine 
hundred farm and ranch families as well as the fish and wildlife 
resources of the Deschutes and Crooked Rivers. It will do so by 
removing a limitation in North Unit's Federal water contract with the 
Bureau of Reclamation. This limitation prevents the Distict and its 
patrons from participating in a conserved water project pursuant to the 
laws of the State of Oregon.
  Removing this contract restriction will enable North Unit to conserve 
its water supplies further through the implementation of conserved 
water projects. In order to comply with State law, the District would 
return a specific percentage of the ``conserved'' water back to the 
Deschutes River permanently as instream flows for fish, wildlife, or 
other purposes. A related change would enable the District to use 
Deschutes Project water on acreage in its service area that is 
currently irrigated with Crooked River water. The savings from these 
two changes could ultimately allow the District to reduce its reliance 
on its privately developed Crooked River supplies.
  Located in central Oregon's Deschutes Basin, the farm and ranch 
families of the North Unit Irrigation District are the embodiment of 
the Federal Reclamation program. Working small and medium parcels of 
land, they raise grass seed, carrot seed, and alfalfa hay, as well as 
cattle, sheep, and horses. The overriding limitation to their ability 
to compete successfully in the international marketplace is a shortage 
or water. For these families, conservation is the most efficient means 
to alleviate their shortage and succeed in the market.
  After self-financing over eight million dollars in canal lining and 
other measures to increase the efficiency of their limited water 
supplies, North Unit would like to participate in a state water 
conservation program. Unfortunately, the District's Federal contract 
prevents it from doing so. This point has been confirmed to me by 
officials with the Bureau of Reclamation, an agency of the Department 
of the Interior. Therefore, North Unit's contract must be amended. 
Since Congress actually legislatively executed the District's contract 
in a 1954 statute, it is Congress, and not the Department of the 
Interior, that must remove this contract restriction.
  These targeted contract changes are specific to the North Unit 
Irrigation District's contract. For the landowners served by the 
District, these changes will enable them to use their water resources 
more efficiently, maintain their competitiveness in the market, and 
benefit the fish and wildlife resources of both the Deschutes and 
Crooked Rivers. Our efforts are supported by the Oregon Water Resources 
Department, which has jurisdiction over State water rights issues. I 
urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I will press for 
its timely consideration.
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