[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 21, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H4537-H4538]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   LAKE HODGES SURFACE WATER IMPROVEMENT AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 2009

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 1219) to make amendments to the Reclamation Projects 
Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 1219

       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 ``Lake Hodges Surface Water 
     Improvement and Reclamation Act of 2009''.

     SEC. 2. PROJECT AUTHORIZATION.

       (a) In General.--The Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater 
     Study and Facilities Act (Public Law 102-575, title XVI; 43 
     U.S.C. 390h et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 
     16__ the following:

     ``SEC. 16__. LAKE HODGES SURFACE WATER IMPROVEMENT AND 
                   RECLAMATION PROJECT.

       ``(a) Authorization.--The Secretary, in cooperation with 
     the Olivenhain Municipal Water District, California, is 
     authorized to participate in the design, planning, and 
     construction of projects to treat, reclaim, and reuse 
     impaired surface water from Lakes Hodges in San Diego County, 
     California.
       ``(b) Cost Share.--The Federal share of the costs of the 
     projects authorized by this section shall not exceed 25 
     percent of the total cost.
       ``(c) Limitation.--The Secretary shall not provide funds 
     for the operation or maintenance of a project authorized by 
     this section.''.
       (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections in section 2 
     of the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act 
     of 1992 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 
     section 16__ the following:
``Sec. 16__. Lake Hodges surface water improvement and reclamation 
              project.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from 
the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) and the gentleman from Utah (Mr. 
Bishop) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands.


                             General Leave

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks 
and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands?
  There was no objection.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. H.R. 1219 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, 
acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to participate in the Lake 
Hodges Surface Water Improvement and Reclamation Project.
  This project would pre-treat 13,000 acre-feet of impaired Lake Hodges 
water currently unavailable for consumptive use. We have no objection 
to this noncontroversial bill.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to the author 
of this piece of legislation, this bipartisan piece of legislation, as 
much time as he shall consume, the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Bilbray).
  Mr. BILBRAY. Mr. Speaker, this bill is one that is balanced in time 
and in effort. At a time when snow packs on Sierra Nevada are very low, 
at a time when the fact that the water supplies for Southern California 
have been cut off dramatically through a court order restriction or 
outright abolition on pumping in the Delta area of the San Joaquin 
Valley because of the endangered delta smelt, and especially due to the 
fact that this problem has run into Hodges, those of us in the Federal 
Government can take a little bit of responsibility here, seeing the 
fact that a major contributing factor to the pollution problem in this 
lake was our procedure in the Endangered Species Act, though meaning 
well to preserve the species, took time that created the problem.
  And let me explain to you what happened here. The lake lowered to a 
level where habitat for the least Bell's vireo was able to grow on the 
dry land during that time.
  When authorities realized that this was going to become a problem, 
they were not allowed, because of the permitting process for what had 
been designated a habitat that was great for the least Bell's vireo, an 
endangered species at that time, now threatened, but basically to 
explain it is the process took so long that the lake raised back up, 
flooded out this habitat, and now that habitat is decomposing and 
polluting the waters of Lake Hodges.
  No one meant this to happen. There was no intention by either the 
environmental agencies involved or by the local community to address 
this issue. It was just as our regulations go, we create these less-
than-appropriate situations.
  This bill is one that not only recognizes the responsibility of the 
Federal Government to the problem, but really is one where the local 
community is saying we will take on the great majority of the 
responsibility of addressing this issue. For every dollar of Federal 
funds that is committed under this bill, there will be $3 of local 
funds to address this.
  And this is not an issue that only affects the 50th District, my 
district, and

[[Page H4538]]

a small section around Lake Hodges. The entirety of Southern California 
is desperate for the massive amounts of water--not massive--but large 
amounts of water that is not safe to drink at this time.
  I think this is a good cooperative effort. The local community has 
said we will match you 3 to 1. We will hold harmless the fact that the 
procedures didn't work out like we would all like it to do, but we will 
be able to make available very safe drinking water in a very 
environmentally, friendly way.
  And that's basically one of those things that I think we can look to 
as Federal representatives of cooperating, not doing something for the 
local community but helping the local community do itself and 
addressing concerns and problems that we might have been part and 
parcel involved, sticking to our responsibility as long as the local 
community is willing to stand up and take care of theirs.
  With that, I would ask passage of this bill, Mr. Speaker. I think 
it's one of those, as the chairwoman for the committee pointed out, 
it's a reasonable, balanced approach. And when we talk about a 3 to 1 
match, a local, I think we have got a very strong statement here that 
the Federal Government is willing to participate, especially when a 
community is willing to match us 3 to 1 for a situation that everyone 
agrees no one was without fault on this.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. BISHOP of Utah. May I simply say in closing on our side that I 
have to commend the gentleman from California for coming up with this 
water recycling project that would basically pre-treat the impaired 
surface of Lake Hodges, California, so that consumer water needs are 
going to be met.
  The drought has largely been man-made because of litigation to 
protect a 3-inch fish, and it will decrease Southern California's water 
supplies. As a result, there will be water rationing in some areas and 
water rates will increase for working families and businesses.
  There will be less imported water to recycle. However, water 
recycling is still, in the long term, a necessity for California and 
other arid regions in the West. And all these projects together will 
help ensure that there will be no such thing as a waste of our water. 
So I urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands (Mrs. Christensen) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 1219.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the 
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be 
postponed.

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