TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending July 9, 2004

HR 2828 to authorize the Secretary of Interior to implement water supply technology and infrastructure programs aimed at increasing and diversifying domestic water resources.

BRIEF

    The dilemma caused by the taxpayers demand for clean and safe drinking water from water resources that are already committed or over-committed is the subject of this bill.

    The issues surrounding the increasingly limited water resources in the US was described in the committee report;  ‘An evolving legal framework, interstate cooperation, tribal and bi-national water issues, environmental compliance, growth and an extended critical dry period that rivals the 1930s drought all present serious challenges for water users and governments throughout the Nation. With fully-appropriated river basins, over-drafting of ground water systems, and increasing requirements for clean and safe water, addressing these issues will not be easy.’

   HR 2828 creates the Office of Federal Water Resources Coordinator in the Dept of Interior. The coordinator would be authorized to participate in many water projects that require larger resources than the State or region could muster.

    The bill’ sponsor Rep. Calvert (R-CA-44^th) amended the bill to include California ‘Bay-Delta water quality protections’ and to provide  that CALFED storage projects are subject to appropriate feasibility studies, and if Congress does not act to disapprove them in 120 days, then construction is authorized.’ The bill also contains provisions for ecosystem restoration.  

     The bill would also provide for a study of the Salton Sea, a hyper saline body of water resulting from past diversions of Colorado River water.

Sponsor: Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA-44^th)

Vote: The motion in the House to recommit the bill to committee failed 139 to 255 (RC 354) July 9, 2004.

HR 2828 passed House amended by voice vote (July 9, 2004.) The bill was amended (H AMDT 662) by voice vote.  

Cost to the taxpayers: $389 million through 2008.

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MORE INFORMATION

   Congress’ research revealed that watershed resource management and concerns blossomed in the 1990s but presented a diverse array that differed from region to region. The initiatives necessary in those regions were of a larger scale necessary to solve broad problems or mobilize necessary resources. Title I of HR 2828 is the attempt to build further on existing efforts ‘to better use the limited water supplies in California’ and manage and coordinate the projects.

1. The bill creates the Office of Federal Water Resources Coordinator within the Office of the Secretary of Interior. The Coordinator would coordinate Federal agency activities involving water resources including desalination, impaired ground water, brine removal and water reuse projects.
2. There would also be established a competitive grant program and such grants would be given out to ‘investigate and identify opportunities for studying, planning and designing water resources activities and to construct demonstration and permanent facilities or implement other programs, projects or activities’
3. The bill more clearly defines the Federal government’s authority and role in water projects and management. Federal agencies are authorized to participate in environmentally reviewed projects such as ‘water storage, conveyance, water use efficiency, water transfers, the Environmental Water Account, integrated regional water management plans, ecosystem restoration, watersheds, water quality, levee stability, monitoring and analysis, program management, oversight and coordination and diversification of water supplies.’ Federal spending in the above would be limited to 33.3%.
4. The Sec of Interior would establish an office in Sacramento, CA and if asked establish offices in the water reclamation states (Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, or Texas). Title II states that the offices would be used by Federal and State agencies that issue permits, conduct environmental reviews, manage water supply capital improvement projects, levee maintenance and delivery systems. Title III establishes a program established in those states for rural water systems.

Title I-California Bay-Delta- ‘The Bay-Delta is the region east of San Francisco Bay, where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers converge. It supplies drinking water to over two-thirds of the people of California and irrigation water for over seven million acres of highly productive agricultural land. The Bay-Delta is the largest estuary on the west coast of the United States, and supports over 750 plant and animal species. It is also the hub of two massive water projects, the Central Valley Project (operated by the Bureau of Reclamation of the Department of the Interior) and the State Water Project (operated by the State of California Department of Water Resources). These two projects divert between 20 to 70 percent of natural water flows in the region depending on water conditions. The Bay-Delta also marks the boundary between northern California where most of the State's water supply originates and southern California where most of the population and demand for water exists. On average, in normal water years, over 5 million acre-feet,’ the committee report explained and continued, ‘The Bay-Delta is in decline due to decades of competing demands for its limited water resources. The area has experienced serious problems relating to water quality and fish and wildlife, raising compliance issues with the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Generally because of these issues relating to ESA, State and federal officials and representatives of agricultural, urban and environmental stakeholders signed an agreement that is known as the Bay-Delta Accord. This December 1994 document provided interim measures for ecosystem restoration and regulatory stability. The Calfed program, a cooperative interagency effort, began in 1995 with agencies relying on existing statutory authority to undertake Calfed Program activities. The federal agency participants in the Program are: the Department of the Interior (including the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Geological Survey); the Environmental Protection Agency; the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the Department of Commerce (including the National Marine Fisheries Service); the Department of Agriculture (including the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Forest Service); and the Western Area Power Administration. The State agencies involved are the Resources Agency of California (including the Department of Water Resources; the

Department of Fish and Game; the Reclamation Board; the Delta Protection Commission; the Department of Conservation; the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission; the Department of Parks and Recreation; and the California Bay-Delta Authority); the California Environmental Protection Agency (including the State Water Resources Control Board); the California Department of Food and Agriculture; and the Department of Health Services.

   Stakeholders, including representatives of agricultural, urban, environmental, fishery, and business interests, and Indian tribes and rural counties, all participate in the collaborative effort. Input is provided through the California Bay-Delta Public Advisory Committee established pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act.

To develop a long-term program, the Calfed Program undertook an extensive planning effort. This resulted in a June 1999 Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR) and a July 2000 Final Programmatic EIS/EIR. On June 9, 2000, an agreement entitled `California's Water Future: A Framework for Action,' was released. On August 28, 2000, the federal and State agencies released a Record of Decision (ROD) setting forth a programmatic 30-year long-term plan for the Bay-Delta.

   The ROD selects a preferred alternative for the Calfed Bay-Delta Program, setting forth the long-term, overall direction of the Program. The ROD provides that the Calfed Bay-Delta Program continue as a federal-State partnership to build a framework for managing water in California. Under the ROD, the Calfed Program has the following components: water storage, ecosystem restoration; water supply reliability; water conveyance; water use efficiency; water quality; water transfers; watersheds; an Environmental Water Account; levee stability; governance; and science. The ROD describes the Calfed Bay-Delta Program as one of the most intensive water conservation efforts ever proposed, the most far-reaching effort to improve drinking water quality for most Californians, and the most significant investment in water storage and conveyance in California in decades.’

Title IV-Salton Sea Study- The report explained that ‘Title IV authorizes the Department of the Interior to study the feasibility of reclaiming the Salton Sea, a land-locked saline body of water initially created by the flooding of the Colorado River in the early 20th century and now primarily sustained by agricultural irrigation flows. The Sea continues to grow more saline, prompting calls from various groups to protect the Sea from permanent and potentially wildlife-harming levels of hyper-salinity. Since the Title recognizes the realities and complexities of current studies to resolve this situation, the general language does not direct funding toward a specific solution. The State of California is currently conducting a feasibility study, including investigations of possible reclamation options and an action plan, for reclaiming the Salton Sea. The projected completion date of the feasibility study is 2006.’ ##All Rights Reserved. No reproduction or distribution without written permission from TheWeekInCongress.com.