[Senate Report 109-169]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 270
109th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                    109-169

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                    NEBRASKA WATER SERVICE EXTENSION

                                _______
                                

                October 27, 2005.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 891]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 891) to extend the water service contract 
for the Ainsworth Unit, Sandhills Division, Pick-Sloan Missouri 
Basin Program, Nebraska, having considered the same, reports 
favorably thereon without amendment and recommends that the 
bill do pass.

                         PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

    The purpose of S. 891 is to extend the water service 
contract for the Ainsworth Unit, Sandhills Division, Pick-Sloan 
Missouri Basin Program, Nebraska.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The water service contract between the Ainsworth Irrigation 
District (AID or District) and the Department of the Interior's 
Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau or Reclamation) for the Ainsworth 
Unit, Sandhills Division, Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, 
Nebraska, is set to expire on December 31, 2006. AID receives 
its project water from Merritt Dam and Reservoir, which is 
located on the Snake River, a tributary of the Niobrara River. 
The AID provides irrigation water to approximately 34,500 acres 
of farmland in Brown and Rock Counties.
    With passage of a formal resolution in November 2002, the 
District decided to discontinue its water service contract with 
the Bureau and instead seek title transfer of the Ainsworth 
project facilities from Federal ownership. Until early in 2005, 
AID worked with Reclamation in accordance with the Bureau's 
Title Transfer Framework process to facilitate the title 
transfer. However, on February 16, 2005, AID adopted a second 
resolution to terminate the title transfer process in favor of 
renewing its water service contract with the Bureau. The 
enactment of S. 891 will extend AID's existing water service 
contract in order to provide sufficient time to complete the 
contract renewal process.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 891 was introduced by Senator Hagel on April 22, 2005, 
and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. 
The Water and Power Subcommittee held a hearing on S. 891 on 
July 12, 2005. At the business meeting on September 28, 2005, 
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 891 
favorably reported without amendment.
    H.R. 1197, an identical bill, was introduced by 
Representative Osborne (R-NE) on March 9, 2005 and referred to 
the House Resources Committee.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open 
business session on September 28, 2005, by unanimous vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 891.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 directs the Secretary of the Interior to extend 
the existing water service contract between the Ainsworth 
Irrigation District and Reclamation for an additional four 
years. The existing water service contract is set to expire on 
December 31, 2006.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

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

S. 891--A bill to extend the water service contract for the Ainsworth 
        Unit, Sandhills Division, Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, 
        Nebraska

    S. 891 would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to extend 
the water contract for the Ainsworth Unit of the Pick-Sloan 
Missouri River Basin Program in Nebraska. This bill would 
extend the contract for four years beyond the current 
expiration date of December 31, 2006. CBO estimates that 
enacting S. 891 would not have a significant effect on the 
federal budget.
    Under current law, the contract results in an annual 
average payment to the federal government of about $20,000. If 
this contract expires, the bureau has the authority to enter 
into annual interim contracts with the water users under terms 
similar to the present contracts. Consequently, payments to the 
federal government under the bill are likely to be similar to 
the payments that would be received under current law. Such 
payments are recorded in the budget as offsetting receipts (a 
credit against direct spending).
    S. 891 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 benefit the Ainsworth Irrigation 
District by extending the existing water service contract for 
an additional four years.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mike Waters. 
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 S. 891.
    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 S. 891, as ordered reported.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at 
the Subcommittee hearing on S. 891 follows:

     Statement of John W. Keys, III, Commissioner, U.S. Bureau of 
                Reclamation, Department of the Interior

    Madam Chairman, I am John W. Keys, III, Commissioner of the 
Bureau of Reclamation. I am pleased to present the views of the 
Department of the Interior in support of S. 891.
    The Ainsworth Unit, a part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin 
Program, is operated and maintained by the Ainsworth Irrigation 
District, Ainsworth, Nebraska. The District receives its 
project water from Merritt Dam and Reservoir, located on the 
Snake River, which has its confluence with the Niobrara River 
just southwest of Valentine, Nebraska. The Ainsworth Irrigation 
District and Reclamation have an existing water service 
contract that will expire on December 31, 2006.
    In November, 2002, the Ainsworth Irrigation District Board 
of Directors adopted a resolution to request title transfer of 
the Ainsworth project facilities from Federal ownership to the 
District. The District worked with Reclamation following the 
process outlined in the Title Transfer Framework document. 
However, on February 16, 2005, the District adopted a 
subsequent additional resolution requesting renewal of its 
existing water service contract and discontinuation of the 
title transfer process.
    Reclamation encourages water districts to explore title 
transfer as the Ainsworth Irrigation district did. However, due 
to the unique circumstances that it faces, the District 
determined after a comprehensive analysis that title transfer 
was not the appropriate action for it at this time. Because the 
District anticipated title transfer for more than two years it 
was not, at the same time, preparing for contract renewal. This 
legislation would extend the existing water service contract 
for an additional 4 years to provide time for the current water 
service contract renewal process to be completed. Reclamation 
law requires us to have a contract in place in order to deliver 
water. That is why we support S. 891.
    I am happy 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 bill S. 891, as ordered 
reported.

                                  
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