[Senate Report 112-117]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                       Calendar No. 279
112th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     112-117

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                   LAKE THUNDERBIRD EFFICIENT USE ACT

                                _______
                                

                January 13, 2012.--Ordered to be printed

 Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of December 17, 2011

                                _______
                                

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

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 802]

    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 802) to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to allow the storage and conveyance of nonproject 
water at the Norman project in Oklahoma, and for other 
purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon 
without amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.

                                Purpose

    The purpose of S. 802 is to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to allow the storage and conveyance of nonproject 
water at the Norman project in Oklahoma.

                          Background and Need

    S. 802 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to enter 
into a contract with the Central Oklahoma Master Conservancy 
District for the storage and conveyance of non-project water at 
Lake Thunderbird, a Norman project facility, to augment 
municipal and industrial supplies for the cities served by the 
District. The Norman Project was authorized in 1960 (Public Law 
86-529) and is located in central Oklahoma. Its primary purpose 
is to provide municipal water for several communities by 
pumping from Lake Thunderbird. The Central Oklahoma Master 
Conservancy District operates the Norman Project under contract 
with the United States. Additional water is required to meet 
existing municipal and industrial needs and S. 802 authorizes 
the Secretary of the Interior to allow non-project water to be 
stored and conveyed in Lake Thunderbird, should the Secretary 
determine that the reservoir has excess capacity for additional 
supplies. The District has agreed to pay for any additional 
costs associated with purchasing, storing, and conveying the 
water at Lake Thunderbird.

                          Legislative History

    Senator Inhofe introduced S. 802 on April 13, 2011. The 
Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources held a hearing on S. 802 on June 23, 2011 (S. 
Hrg. 112-129). The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 
ordered S. 802 favorably reported without amendment at its 
business meeting on November 10, 2011.
    During the 111th Congress, Senator Inhofe introduced 
similar legislation, S. 3573. No further actions were taken.

                        Committee Recommendation

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in 
open business session on November 10, 2011, by a voice vote of 
a quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 802.

                      Section-by-Section Analysis

    Section 1 identifies the short title of the bill as the 
``Lake Thunderbird Efficient Use Act of 2011''.
    Section 2 amends Public Law 86-529 (74 Stat. 225) by 
specifying that the Secretary of the Interior may amend an 
existing contract or enter into a new contract with the Central 
Oklahoma Master Conservancy District to store and convey 
nonproject water in Norman project facilities to augment 
municipal and industrial supplies for the cities served by the 
District. Costs associated with any additional infrastructure 
required to store and convey the additional water supplies are 
specified to be the responsibility of the non-Federal entity 
contracting with the Secretary of the Interior.
    Section 3 specifies that this Act does not authorize any 
expansion of the storage capacity of Lake Thunderbird.

                   Cost and Budgetary Considerations

    The Congressional Budget Office estimate of the costs of 
this measure has been requested but was not received at the 
time the report was filed. When the Congressional Budget Office 
completes its cost estimate, it will be posted on the Internet 
at www.cbo.gov.

                      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. 802.
    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. 802, as ordered reported.

                   Congressionally Directed Spending

    S. 802, as reported, does not contain any congressionally 
directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited 
tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules 
of the Senate.

                        Executive Communications

    The testimony provided the Department of the Interior at 
the June 23, 2011, Subcommittee hearing on S. 802 follows:

    Statement of Grayford F. Payne, Deputy Commissioner for Policy, 
  Administration and Budget, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the 
                                Interior

    Madam Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, I am 
Grayford Payne, Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Administration 
and Budget at the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation). I am 
pleased to present the views of the Department of the Interior 
(Department) on S. 802, a bill to authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to allow the storage and conveyance of non-project 
water at the Norman Project in Oklahoma. For reasons I will 
discuss below, the Department supports this bill.
    Lake Thunderbird, located on the Little River in central 
Oklahoma, was constructed as part of the Norman Project for 
municipal and industrial water supply, flood control, 
recreation, and fish & wildlife purposes. The Central Oklahoma 
Master Conservancy District (District) operates the Norman 
Project under contract with the United States. The District 
holds all Project water rights and currently provides water to 
the member cities of Norman, Del City and Midwest City.
    The Lake Thunderbird watershed experienced a major drought 
between 2005 and 2006 which resulted in unprecedented low lake 
levels. Shortly thereafter, the District and Reclamation 
jointly determined that the stored water supply in the lake 
would require augmentation in the future to meet demands of the 
member cities during potential reoccurring drought periods.
    S. 802 would facilitate a proposal by the District to 
purchase raw water from the City of Oklahoma City in times of 
drought and store it in Lake Thunderbird to augment the yield 
of the reservoir. The water would come from Atoka Reservoir in 
southeast Oklahoma, which is owned and operated by Oklahoma 
City. Oklahoma City conveys this water approximately 100 miles 
through the existing Atoka pipeline which crosses the Lake 
Thunderbird watershed just upstream of the reservoir. The 
District and Oklahoma City would tap the Atoka pipeline and 
construct a short pipeline to Lake Thunderbird. Because the 
purchased water does not originate within the Lake Thunderbird 
watershed, Reclamation does not have authority to approve this 
action. If S. 802 were enacted, Reclamation could approve a 
water service contract and provide the means for the action to 
move forward.
    The Department supports this legislation because: (1) 
Reclamation has confirmed an immediate and critical water need 
exists; (2) studies conducted in 2010 indicate that Lake 
Thunderbird can be used to store up to 4,600 acre feet of non-
project water, if and when space is available, with no adverse 
impacts to operations, the environment, recreation, and the 
local economy; (3) the action would be carried out solely by 
the District at no cost to the Federal government; and (4) 
based on a well attended public meeting in 2009 and on comments 
received on the environmental compliance document, the proposed 
action is generally supported by interested parties and no 
known opposition exists.
    Madam Chairman, this concludes my written statement. I am 
pleased to answer any questions.

                        Changes in Existing Law

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by 
the bill S. 802, as ordered reported, are shown as follows 
(existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black 
brackets, new matter is printed in italic, existing law in 
which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

                    Public Law 86-529 (74 Stat. 225)


    An Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct, 
   operate, and maintain the Norman project, Oklahoma, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the 
Secretary of the Interior is authorized to construct, operate, 
and maintain the Norman Federal reclamation project, Oklahoma, 
in accordance with the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 
17, 1902, and Acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto), 
except so far as those laws are inconsistent with this Act, for 
the principal purposes of storing, regulating, and furnishing 
water for municipal, domestic, and industrial use, and for 
controlling floods, and, as incidents to the foregoing for the 
additional purposes of regulating the flow of the Little River, 
providing for the conservation and development of fish and 
wildlife, and of enhancing recreational opportunities. The 
Norman project shall consist of the following work: A reservoir 
on Little River near Norman, Oklahoma, pumping plants, 
pipelines, and other conduits for furnishing water for 
municipal, domestic, and industrial use.

           *       *       *       *       *       *       *


SEC. 9.

    Section 5(f) of the Act entitled ``An Act to authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to construct, operate, and maintain 
the Colorado River storage project and participating projects, 
and for other purposes'', approved April 11, 1956 (70 Stat. 
109), is amended effective June 1, 1960, to read as follows: 
``The interest rate applicable to each unit of the storage 
project and each participating project for purposes of 
computing interest during construction and interest on the 
unpaid balance shall be determined by the Secretary of the 
Treasury, as of the beginning of the fiscal year in which 
construction is initiated, on the basis of the computed average 
interest rate payable by the Treasury upon its outstanding 
marketable public obligations, which are neither due nor 
callable for redemption for fifteen years from the date of 
issue.''

SEC. 10. LAKE THUNDERBIRD.

    (a) In General.--If the Secretary of the Interior 
determines that there is enough excess capacity in the 
reservoir on the Little River known as `Lake Thunderbird' that 
nonproject water can be stored in Lake Thunderbird, the 
Secretary of the Interior may, in accordance with the 
reclamation laws, amend an existing contract, or enter into 1 
or more new contracts, with the Central Oklahoma Master 
Conservancy District for the storage and conveyance of 
nonproject water in Norman project facilities to augment 
municipal and industrial supplies for the cities served by the 
Central Oklahoma Master Conservancy District.
    (b) Costs.--If any additional infrastructure is needed to 
enable the storage and conveyance of non-project water in 
Norman project facilities under subsection (a) or any other 
provision of this Act, the costs of constructing, operating, 
and maintaining the infrastructure shall be the responsibility 
of the non-Federal entity contracting with the Secretary of the 
Interior for storage and conveyance rights.

                                  
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