[Senate Report 106-435]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 857
106th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     106-435

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          INCREASED AUTHORIZATION FOR MINIDOKA PROJECT, IDAHO

                                _______
                                

  September 28 (legislative day, September 22), 2000.--Ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Murkowski, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 3577]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the Act (H.R. 3577) to increase the amount authorized 
to be appropriated for the north side pumping division of the 
Minidoka reclamation project, Idaho, having considered the 
same, reports favorably thereon without amendment and 
recommends that the Act do pass.

                         Purpose of The Measure

    The purpose of H.R. 3577 is to increase the amount 
authorized to be appropriated for the north side pumping 
division of the Minidoka reclamation project, Idaho. The cost 
ceiling is being increased by $2.8 million in order to complete 
work begun to address drain water management.

                          Background and Need

    Due to the lack of natural surface drainage outlets to the 
Snake River and constraints associated with drainage onto the 
lower lying Minidoka Irrigation District, most irrigation 
return flow and storm water runoff is injected into drain wells 
(part of the original project design), which pass water 
directly into the underlying aquifer.
    In October 1991, the Environmental Protection Agency 
designated the eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer a sole source 
of drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act. A plan, 
identified as the ``Framework Plan for Drain Water 
Management,'' was developed by the Bureau of Reclamation and 
the Minidoka Irrigation District in 1993 to implement an 
alternate to the current practice of untreated agricultural 
return flow and storm water entering drain wells directly into 
the Snake River Plain Aquifer.
    H.R. 3577 would increase an earlier appropriations ceiling 
by $2.8 million to complete the remaining work of the Minidoka 
Project in Idaho. The remaining work consists of constructing 
passive treatment, abandoning a number of wells, and reuse 
systems at an estimated cost of $2.8 million (60 percent 
Federal/40 percent local), of which up to $1.3 million would be 
reimbursable to the District under a cost sharing arrangement.

                          Legislative History

    H.R. 3577 passed the House of Representatives on May 8, 
2000 by a vote of 385-6. The Subcommittee on Water and Power 
held a hearing on the bill on September 19, 2000. At the 
business meeting on September 20, 2000, the Committee on Energy 
and Natural Resources ordered H.R. 3577 favorably reported.

            Committee Recommendation and Tabulation of Votes

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on September 20, 2000, by a unanimous voice 
vote of a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass H.R. 
3577 as described herein.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.

H.R. 3577--A bill to increase the amount authorized to be appropriated 
        for the north side pumping division of the Minidoka reclamation 
        project, Idaho

    H.R. 3577 would increase, by $2.8 million, the total amount 
authorized to be appropriated to the Bureau of Reclamation to 
complete the north side pumping division of the Minidoka 
reclamation project in Idaho. That amount includes $250,000 
that has already been provided for the current year. Based on 
information from the agency, CBO estimates that implementing 
this bill would increase discretionary spending by about $2.5 
million over the 2001-2005 period, assuming appropriation of 
the authorized amount. The bill would not affect direct 
spending or receipts; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures would 
not apply.
    H.R. 3577 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments. 
Enacting this bill would authorize the bureau to reimburse the 
affected irrigation district in the state of Idaho for the 
federal share of the district's costs to complete the Minidoka 
project.
    The CBO staff contact is Megan Carroll. This estimate was 
approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant Director for 
Budget Analysis.

                      Regulatory Impact Evaluation

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out H.R. 3577. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing government-established standards or 
significant economic responsibilities on private individuals 
and businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of H.R. 3577, as ordered reported.

                        Executive Communications

    On September 14, 2000, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of 
the Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting 
forth Executive agency recommendations on H.R. 3577. These 
reports had not been received at the time the report on H.R. 
3577 was filed. When the reports become available, the Chairman 
will request that they be printed in the Congressional Record 
for the advice of the Senate. The testimony provided by the 
Acting Chief of Staff for the Bureau of Reclamation at the 
Subcommittee hearing follows:

    Statement of Robert J. Quint, Acting Chief of Staff, Bureau of 
                Reclamation, Department of the Interior

    Thank you for the opportunity to present the views of the 
Department of the Interior on H.R. 3577, a bill to increase the 
authorized appropriations ceiling for the Northside Pumping 
Division of the Minidoka Project by $2,805,000. This increase 
in authorization ceiling would allow work already begun under 
the Minidoka Northside Drainwater Management Plan to be 
completed.
    The Administration supports this legislation. The 
President's Budget for Fiscal Year 2001 proposed an identical 
increase in the Minidoka Project's appropriations ceiling. 
Completion of the Minidoka Northside Drainwater Management Plan 
will result in closure of several agricultural drainage 
injection wells, protection of the Snake River Plain aquifer, 
compliance with the Clean Water Act, and continued irrigation 
of project lands. I look forward to working with the members of 
the Subcommittee toward these goals.
    A brief review of the Project sets the context for 
Reclamation's support of H.R. 3577. The 77,000-acre North Side 
Pumping Division of the Minidoka Project, located on the 
southern portion of the Snake River Plain in south-central 
Idaho, was authorized for irrigation purposes by Public Law 81-
864 (the Act of September 30, 1950; 64 Stat. 1083). Reclamation 
finished construction of the Division in 1959; operations and 
maintenance responsibilities were transferred to the A&B 
Irrigation District in 1966.
    This area of the Snake River Plain lacks natural surface 
drainage outlets to the Snake River. Current practice, true to 
the original Project design, is to dispose of agricultural 
drainwater by injecting it into drain wells that flow directly 
to the underlying Snake River Plain aquifer. However, injection 
of untreated agricultural drainwater places the aquifer at risk 
of contamination from high levels of coliform bacteria and 
turbidity and from inadvertent spills of hazardous material 
into project drainage facilities.
    The Snake River Plain aquifer was designated in 1991 as the 
area's sole source of drinking water under the Safe Drinking 
Water Act, meaning that contamination of the aquifer would 
present a significant public health hazard. The risk of 
contamination posed by the practice of disposal of untreated 
agricultural drainwater through the injection well system (into 
wells that drain directly into the Snake River Plain aquifer) 
became unacceptable.
    In 1994, Reclamation completed the North Side Drainwater 
Management Plan, which proposed alternative ways to dispose of 
agricultural drainwater. The Plan recommended we close as many 
injection wells as possible, and replace existing drainage/
injection facilities with construction of passive wetlands and 
pumpback/reuse systems for the treatment and disposal of 
agricultural drainwater.
    Reclamation and the A&B Irrigation District are working 
cooperatively to implement the Plan's recommendations. By May, 
1999, of the 78 original wells, 38 had been abandoned and 5 had 
been capped, leaving 35 wells still active and taking 
irrigation drainwater.
    The Plan also recommended we take steps to significantly 
reduce excess agricultural runoff; to this end, Reclamation and 
the District are considering use of variable-speed pumps on the 
production wells that supply water for irrigation.
    Costs to implement the Plan have exceeded the $11,395,000 
authorized appropriations ceiling in Public Law 81-864 by about 
$2.8 million. H.R. 3577 would increase the present authorized 
project ceiling from $11,395,000 (64 Stat. 1085) to 
$14,200,000. This additional authority would permit work on 
construction of passive wetlands and pumpback/reuse systems for 
the treatment and disposal of agricultural drainwater to be 
completed.
    This concludes my prepared statement and I would be glad to 
answer any questions.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by the Act H.R. 3577, as 
ordered reported.

                                  
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