[Senate Report 110-112]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 253
110th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                    110-112

======================================================================



 
               NEW MEXICO AQUIFER ASSESSMENT ACT OF 2007

                                _______
                                

                 June 28, 2007.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 324]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 324) to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to conduct a study of water resources in the State of 
New Mexico, having considered the same, reports favorably 
thereon without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                PURPOSE

    The purpose of S. 324 is to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to conduct a study of water resources in the State of 
New Mexico.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    Over the past several years, New Mexico has been in and out 
of drought conditions, which has caused the water level in many 
of its reservoirs to drop to dangerously low levels. In 
addition, the groundwater wells of many municipalities in the 
State have run dry. New Mexico is unique in its reliance on 
groundwater. It has a history of irrigation from artesian wells 
in the eastern part of the State. Moreover, approximately 90 
percent of New Mexicans depend on groundwater for drinking 
water purposes, 77 percent of which obtain their supply 
exclusively from groundwater. While groundwater supplies 
throughout the State are coming under increasing demand due to 
drought, contamination, historical use, and increasing 
population, not enough is known about these resources to make 
sound decisions regarding their ongoing and future use. In 
particular, there is a strong need to better understand aquifer 
recharge rates, water quality, susceptibility to contamination, 
and the interaction between surface water and groundwater 
flows.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 324 was introduced on January 17, 2007 by Senator 
Domenici for himself and Senator Bingaman, and referred to the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The Water and Power 
Subcommittee held a hearing on S. 324 on April 25, 2007. At the 
business meeting on May 23, 2007, the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources ordered S. 324 favorably reported.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an 
open business meeting on May 23, 2007, by voice vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 324.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 provides the short title.
    Section 2(a) directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Director of the United States Geological Survey in 
coordination with the State of New Mexico and other appropriate 
entities to conduct a study of water resources in the State, 
including a survey of groundwater resources, and 
characterization of aquifer geology.
    Section 2(b) directs that the study shall include the 
Estancia Basin, Salt Basin, Tularosa Basin, Hueco Basin, and 
middle Rio Grande Basin in the State.
    Section 2(c) requires that not later than 2 years after the 
date of enactment, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee 
on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives a report 
that describes the results of the study.
    Section 2(d) authorizes the appropriation of necessary sums 
to carry out the Act.

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

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

                                                      June 6, 2007.
Hon. Jeff Bingaman,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 324, the New Mexico 
Aquifer Assessment Act of 2007.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact are Tyler 
Kruzich and David Reynolds.
            Sincerely,
                                                   Peter R. Orszag.
    Enclosure.

S. 324--New Mexico Aquifer Assessment Act of 2007

    Summary: S. 324 would require the United States Geological 
Survey (USGS) to conduct a study of water resources in five New 
Mexico ground water basins. Assuming appropriation of the 
necessary funds, CBO estimates that conducting those studies 
would cost $15 million over the 2008-2012 period. Enacting S. 
324 would not affect direct spending or revenues.
    The legislation contains no intergovernmental or private-
sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act 
(UMRA) and would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    Estimated cost to the federal government: The estimated 
budgetary impact of S. 324 is shown in the following table. The 
costs of this legislation would fall within budget function 300 
(natural resources and environment).

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   2008    2009    2010    2011    2012
------------------------------------------------------------------------
              CHANGES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION

Estimated Authorization Level...       6       6       3       0       0
Estimated Outlays...............       4       4       4       2       1
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Basis of estimate: For this estimate, CBO assumes that S. 
324 will be enacted before the end of 2007 and that the 
necessary amounts will be appropriated for each year. The bill 
would require USGS to study water resources in five separate 
New Mexico ground water basins. Based on information provided 
by the USGS, CBO expects the studies would begin over the next 
three years and be completed within five years. Using 
information provided by the agency, CBO estimates that carrying 
out the proposed studies would cost $15 million over the 2008-
2012 period, assuming appropriation of the necessary amounts.
    Intergovernmental and private-sector impact: S. 324 
contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as 
defined by UMRA and would impose no costs state, local, or 
tribal governments.
    Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: Tyler Kruzich and 
David Reynolds; Impact on State, Local, and Tribal Governments: 
Lisa Ramirez-Branum; Impact on the Private Sector: Amy Petz.
    Estimate 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. 324. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant responsibilities on private individuals and 
business.
    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. 324.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at 
the Subcommittee hearing on S. 324 follows:

  Statement of Robert M. Hirsch, Associate Director for Water, United 
       States Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior

    Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I am Dr. Robert 
M. Hirsch, Associate Director for Water for the U.S. Geological 
Survey (USGS). I thank you for the opportunity to provide the 
views of the Department of the Interior (Department) on S. 324, 
the ``New Mexico Aquifer Assessment Act of 2007.''
    The Department agrees that the goals of the bill are 
commendable and the needs that could be addressed are real; 
however, we have concerns with this bill, including the 
availability of funding for the work proposed in the context of 
overall funding for the Administration's priorities. To ensure 
appropriate flexibility in budgetary management, the 
Administration recommends that this bill be amended to 
authorize rather than require the study within a statutorily 
prescribed timeframe. We would like to work with the committee 
to revise the bill to address these issues.


       S. 324, THE ``NEW MEXICO AQUIFER ASSESSMENT ACT OF 2007''


    S. 324 directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Director of the USGS, to conduct a study on ground-
water resources in the State of New Mexico. The role identified 
for the Department in this bill is consistent with the 
leadership role of USGS in monitoring and assessing ground-
water resources.
    As the Nation's largest water, earth, and biological 
science and civilian mapping agency, the USGS conducts the most 
extensive ground-water and surface-water investigations in the 
Nation in conjunction with State and local partners. The USGS 
New Mexico Water Science Center currently operates 203 
streamflow stations and routinely measures ground-water levels 
at 2573 well sites through cooperative programs with several 
Federal, State, Tribal, and local agencies. In addition to 
hydrologic monitoring programs, the USGS is providing 
hydrologic understanding to water agencies through the 
Cooperative Water Program by conducting several investigative 
projects that include describing the interaction of surface 
water and ground water in the Mesilla, upper Rio Hondo, and 
Middle Rio Grande Basins; planning geohydrologic studies in the 
Salt Basin; and evaluating water quality of the Rio Grande and 
Rio Chama. In support of all water agencies within New Mexico, 
USGS technical specialists actively participate on work groups 
and committees addressing critical New Mexico water issues. 
Currently, personnel are involved in the Technical Subcommittee 
of the Gila-San Francisco Coordinating Committee, the Espanola 
Basin Technical Advisory Group, and the Upper Rio Grande Water 
Operations Model Work Group.
    The USGS has a long history of conducting ground-water 
assessments on a regional scale. In the 1980s, 25 regional 
aquifer systems were studied in detail as part of the Regional 
Aquifer-System Analysis (RASA) Program, including the Southwest 
Alluvial basins, High Plains aquifer, and San Juan Basin in New 
Mexico. More recently, the Middle Rio Grande Basin was studied 
extensively for 6 years as a partnership among Federal, State, 
and local sources.
    Congress directed the USGS in their fiscal year (FY) 2002 
appropriation to ``prepare a report to describe the scope and 
magnitude of the efforts needed to provide periodic assessments 
of the status and trends in the availability and use of 
freshwater resources.'' We are midway through a pilot project 
in the Great Lakes region and a small effort in the Lower 
Colorado River basin to develop approaches for national 
assessment that began in FY 2005 as part of the USGS Ground-
Water Resources Program. The approaches developed to date could 
be applied to New Mexico and nationwide. However, we note that 
a comprehensive study of a major aquifer system commonly takes 
4 or more years to complete; and thus, the 2-year time frame 
for completing the overall study proposed by S. 324 would yield 
limited results.


                               CONCLUSION


    In conclusion, the USGS concurs with the goals of S. 324. 
The proposed effort would help ensure long-term water supplies 
for the citizens, businesses, industry, and natural features of 
New Mexico, and the expertise of USGS is highly relevant to the 
tasks contemplated by the legislation. However, we are 
concerned with the funding requirements that accompany S. 324. 
We note that there are no funds in this year's budget or the 
President's FY 2008 budget to implement the legislation, and 
any future funding requests would have to compete with other 
priority projects for funds. We also note there are some 
ongoing efforts to address the goals of the Act. Finally, 
individual major aquifer studies commonly require 4 or more 
years to complete, and thus, the 2-year time frame for 
completing the overall study proposed by S. 324 would yield 
limited results.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity to present 
this testimony. I will be pleased to respond to questions you 
and other Members of the Committee may have.

                        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. 324, as ordered 
reported.

                                  
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