[House Report 109-443]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     109-443

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    CONJUNCTIVE USE OF SURFACE AND GROUNDWATER IN JUAB COUNTY, UTAH

                                _______
                                

 April 27, 2006.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 
              State of the Union and ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

  Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 4013]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

  The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill 
(H.R. 4013) to amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and 
Adjustment Act of 1992 to provide for conjunctive use of 
surface and groundwater in Juab County, Utah, having considered 
the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and 
recommend that the bill do pass.

                          Purpose of the Bill

    The purpose of H.R. 4013 is to amend the Reclamation 
Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 to provide 
for conjunctive use of surface and groundwater in Juab County, 
Utah.

                  Background and Need for Legislation

    The federal Central Utah Project has enabled the State of 
Utah to beneficially use a substantial portion of its allotted 
share of Colorado River water under the Colorado River Compact. 
During initial Project feasibility studies, planners had 
envisioned developing water supplies in the northern 
mountainous region and delivering them through a series of 
reservoirs, tunnels and pipelines to the southern basin areas, 
including Juab County. That plan never materialized because it 
was initially determined that the water would stay north to 
meet the growing population demands of the northern counties 
rather than agricultural needs in the southern counties. 
Although Juab County continues to pay into the Project, it is 
not receiving benefits.
    As local water demands grow, Juab County is seeking to more 
effectively use its existing water supplies through conjunctive 
use of surface and groundwater sources. H.R. 4013 amends 
Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 
(Public Law 102-575) by adding Juab County to the list of Utah 
counties eligible to receive federal funds for this conjunctive 
use purpose.

                            Committee Action

    H.R. 4013 was introduced on October 7, 2005, by Congressman 
Chris Cannon (R-UT). The bill was referred to the Committee on 
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on 
Water and Power. On February 8, 2006, the Subcommittee held a 
hearing on the bill. On March 29, 2006, the Full Resources 
Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Water 
and Power was discharged from further consideration of the bill 
by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered, and the bill 
was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives 
by unanimous consent.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis


Section 1. Conjunctive use of surface and groundwater in Juab County, 
        Utah

    This section amends section 202(a)(2) of the Reclamation 
Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (Public Law 
102-575) to make Juab County, Utah, eligible to receive federal 
grants to study conjunctive use of surface and groundwater 
resources.

            Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations

    Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of 
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the 
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations 
are reflected in the body of this report.

                   Constitutional Authority Statement

    Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United 
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.

                    Compliance With House Rule XIII

    1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the 
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and 
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be 
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B) 
of that Rule provides that this requirement does not apply when 
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted 
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
    2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2) 
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and 
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this 
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending 
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in 
revenues or tax expenditures.
    3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does 
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule 
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not 
apply.
    4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause 
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act 
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate 
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget 
Office:

H.R. 4013--A bill to amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and 
        Adjustment Act of 1992 to provide for conjunctive use of 
        surface and groundwater in Juab County, Utah

    CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4013 would not affect 
direct spending or revenues, but would increase spending 
subject to appropriation from amounts previously authorized. 
This bill would add the county of Juab, Utah, to a list of 
counties that are eligible to receive federal funding for a 
type of water distribution system that stores water runoff from 
the surface in groundwater aquifers. Such systems are known as 
conjunctive use projects. The Central Utah Project Completion 
Act authorized the appropriation of $10 million for these 
conjunctive use projects. To date, the Congress has 
appropriated $2.5 million for a project in Salt Lake County.
    Based on information from the East Juab Water Conservancy 
District, CBO estimates that the federal share of a conjunctive 
use project in that county would be $5 million.
    H.R. 4013 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. 
The bill would benefit Juab County by authorizing the county to 
use surface and ground water as part of the Utah Division of 
Water Resources Project.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Julie Middleton. 
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                    Compliance With Public Law 104-4

    This bill contains no unfunded mandates.

                Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law

    This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or 
tribal law.

         Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported

    In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of 
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by 
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is 
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is 
proposed is shown in roman):

 SECTION 202 OF THE RECLAMATION PROJECTS AUTHORIZATION AND ADJUSTMENT 
                              ACT OF 1992


SEC. 202. BONNEVILLE UNIT WATER DEVELOPMENT.

    (a) Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated in section 
201, the following amounts shall be available only for the 
following features of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah 
Project:
          (1) * * *
          (2) Conjunctive use of surface and ground water.--
        $10,000,000 for a feasibility study and development, 
        with public involvement, by the Utah Division of Water 
        Resources of systems to allow ground water recharge, 
        management, and the conjunctive use of surface water 
        resources with ground water resources in Salt Lake, 
        Utah, Davis, Juab, Wasatch, and Weber Counties, Utah.

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