[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.