Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Act of 1991 - Title I: Central Valley Fish and Wildlife - Directs the Secretary of the Interior to: (1) develop, select, and implement specified actions with respect to fish and wildlife habitat issues in the California Central Valley; and (2) establish a Central Valley Project (CVP) Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee (Committee) and a CVP Fish and Wildlife Task Force (Task Force).
Includes among initial actions that the Secretary shall take by specified dates: (1) negotiation and execution of agreements with the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG) to mitigate the direct fishery losses associated with the operation of the Tracy Pumping Plant and the Contra Costa Canal Pumping Plant numbered one and to eliminate, to the extent practical, losses of salmon and steelhead trout due to flow fluctuations caused by the operation of Keswick, Nimbus, and Lewiston Regulating Dams; (2) installation and operation of a structural temperature control device at Shasta Dam and development and implementation of modifications in CVP operations to allow for control of water temperatures in the upper Sacramento River sufficient to protect salmon; (3) rehabilitation and expansion of the Coleman National Fish Hatchery; (4) development and implementation of a gravel replenishment program to restore and replenish spawning gravel lost due to the construction and operation of Shasta, Folsom, and New Melones Dams, bank protection programs, and other actions that have reduced availability of spawning gravel in the upper Sacramento River and the American and Stanislaus Rivers; and (5) development and implementation of a Delta Cross Channel monitoring and operational program to protect striped bass eggs and larvae as they approach the Delta Cross Channel gates.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) provide dependable water supplies of suitable quality to specified Central Valley wildlife refuges (refuges) until firm water supplies are available and provided (pursuant to agreements to be executed within one year after the enactment of this Act between the Secretary, the CDFG, and the Grasslands Resource Conservation District); (2) impose shortages, if the CVP cannot deliver a full supply in any water year to the refuges and the CVP contractors, on the CVP water provided to the refuges that are equal to those imposed on the nonwater rights CVP agricultural contractors; (3) implement actions authorized under this title without a reduction in the pumping or conveyance capacity, or both, needed to serve other CVP purposes; (4) encourage the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater, and the multiple use of water supplies, as a means to facilitate the purposes of this title; and (5) establish a comprehensive assessment program to monitor fish and wildlife resources in the Central Valley and to assess the biological results of actions implemented pursuant to this title.
Specifies that 51 percent of the cost of providing water to private refuges shall be paid for by such refuges, with the remainder allocated under this Act.
Requires the Secretary to develop, evaluate, select, and implement, by specified dates, actions that address specified fish and wildlife protection, restoration, and enhancement issues, including: (1) developing and implementing programs to eliminate the need to reduce Keswick Dam releases every spring to place the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District's Diversion Dam into operation and every fall to take the Dam out of operation to minimize fish passage problems for salmon at the CVP Red Bluff Diversion Dam and to augment natural production of salmon and steelhead trout population levels in the San Joaquin River system in above normal water years through means of artificial production; (2) constructing and operating a new satellite hatchery to augment the single and dual purpose channels at the Tehama Colusa Fish Facility and to further mitigate the impact of Shasta Dam on fishery resources; (3) constructing a salmon and steelhead trout hatchery on the Yuba River; (4) negotiating and executing an agreement with the CDFG that requires the release of the minimum flows necessary to take full advantage of the spawning, incubation, rearing, and outmigration potential of the upper Sacramento River and the Lower American River for salmon, subject to the physical capabilities of the CVP facilities involved; (5) providing flows to allow sufficient spawning, incubation, rearing, and outmigration conditions for salmon and steelhead trout from Whiskeytown Dam and a new fish ladder constructed at the McCormick-Saeltzer Dam; (6) evaluating and implementing a program to correct a defective fish screen at the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District's Sacramento River diversion; (7) assisting in the funding of enforcement measures to reduce the numbers of striped bass illegally taken from the San Francisco Bay Estuary; (8) providing such assistance as may be requested by the State of California to develop and implement fishing regulations that protect the older more productive striped bass females in order to maintain a viable reproducing striped bass population; and (9) developing and implementing measures that will provide additional dependable water supplies of suitable quality.
Directs: (1) the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to expedite, and complete by December 31, 1995, efforts to clean up mines causing intermittent releases of lethal concentrations of dissolved metals from the Spring Creek Debris Dam; and (2) the Secretary, in the interim, to provide water from the Keswick Dam sufficient to dilute the Spring Creek Debris Dam discharges to concentration levels that allow survival of fish life below Keswick Dam, except when the U.S. Corps of Engineers flood control criteria for Shasta Dam limits that capability.
Authorizes the Secretary to construct, in partnership with the State of California, a barrier at the head of Old River in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by December 31, 1995, to partially mitigate the impact of the CVP and State Water project pumping plants in the south Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on the survival of young outmigrating salmon that are diverted from the San Joaquin River to the pumps.
Directs the Task Force to: (1) identify additional actions that would provide mitigation of CVP impacts on, protect, restore, and enhance, Central Valley fish and wildlife habitat; (2) develop the information needed to evaluate such actions technically, determine the economic and biological feasibility using specified criteria, determine appropriate cost allocations specific to each action, and select actions to recommend to the Congress for authorization to implement; and (3) report to the Congress according to a specified schedule until the year 2010 when the Task Force shall cease to exist.
Sets forth fish and wildlife habitat issues to be evaluated by the Task Force, including: (1) determination of the flows and habitat restoration measures needed to protect, restore, and enhance salmon and steelhead trout in parts of the San Joaquin River; (2) investigation of actions allowing closure or screening of the Delta Cross Channel and Georgiana Slough to prevent the diversion of out-migrating salmon and steelhead trout through those facilities; (3) investigation of the need to expand or develop wildlife refuges in the Central Valley; (4) investigation of alternative means of improving the reliability of water supplies currently available to privately owned wetlands in the Central Valley; (5) as a means of increasing survival of migrating young fish, investigation of the feasibility of using short pulses of increased water flows to move salmon, steelhead trout, and striped bass into and through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; (6) investigation of ways to maintain suitable temperatures for young salmon survival in the lower Sacramento River and in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by controlling or relocating the discharge of irrigation return flows and sewage effluent; (7) investigation of the need for additional hatchery production to mitigate the impacts of water development on Central Valley fisheries where no other feasible means of mitigation is available or where hatchery production would enhance efforts to increase natural production of a particular species; (8) investigation of measures available to correct flow pattern problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta created by the operation of the CVP and the California State Water Project; (9) evaluation of measures to avoid unqualified losses of juvenile anadromous fish due to unscreened or inadequately screened diversions on the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, their tributaries, and in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; and (10) elimination of barriers to upstream migration of salmon and steelhead trout adults to spawning areas downstream of existing storage facilities in the Central Valley caused by agricultural diversions and other obstructions.
Directs the Secretary, the Committee, and the Task Force to consider specified criteria and factors and issue findings thereon when determining which alternate program, policies, or procedures should be implemented to protect, restore, or enhance fish and wildlife conditions.
Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) cost allocations; (2) additional authorities; and (3) funding to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act.
Establishes the Committee and sets forth administrative provisions.
Directs the Secretary to establish the Task Force. Sets forth provisions with respect to the selection of Task Force members and organization and operation of the Task Force.
Title II: Water Transfers - Authorizes the Secretary, subject to specified limitations, to approve all transfer agreements: (1) among CVP contractors and between CVP contractors and noncontractors involving CVP water within the authorized CVP service area; (2) between CVP contractors and parties outside the CVP service area upon the determination that as a result of the proposed transaction over the term of the agreement there is no net export of water out of the CVP service area of the transferor; (3) between CVP water contractors and parties outside the CVP service area where the Secretary determines that as a result of the proposed transaction over the term of the agreement there will be a net export of water out of the service area of the transferor, provided that the water being transferred would not otherwise be available to other consumptive beneficial uses absent implementation of the program and that, over the term of the agreement in question, the transfer will have no significant, long-term adverse impact on groundwater conditions in the transferor's service area.
Sets forth provisions with respect to: (1) transfers of water developed through temporary or permanent land fallowing; and (2) transfers outside the CVP service area during certain critical years.
Specifies that: (1) all existing and future contracts for CVP water shall be deemed to allow for the transfers and exchanges provided for within this title; (2) all CVP contractors who are parties to a long-term transfer or exchange contract shall be entitled to renew its water contract for, at a minimum, a term equal to the remaining term of the transfer or exchange agreement at the time that the underlying contract is to be renewed; and (3) specified agreements entered into under this title shall provide that, during the years of actual transfer, CVP water subject to transfer shall be repayed at full cost.
Title III: Water Conservation - Requires all existing CVP agricultural contractors, within two years after the enactment of this Act, to submit a report to the Secretary which identifies water conservation practicies and analyzes the costs and benefits to that entity and its customers of implementing each of such practices and any additional practices the Secretary determines should be analyzed.
Requires all CVP agricultural contractors to develop a plan for implementation of such practices determined by the entity within the required water conservation report to be financially and otherwise feasible for the specific entity. Requires the entity to complete the plan for implementation within one year after completion of such report. Specifies that financially feasible conservation practices that will cause environmental harm or that are inconsistent with other legal requirements shall not be required to be implemented.
Establishes a Water Conservation Incentive Program which shall be administered by the Secretary to encourage and assist with the on-farm implementation of the water conservation practices set forth in this title.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) require all CVP municipal and industrial water users, to the extent they provide retail, municipal, and industrial water service, to comply with the provisions of a specified memorandum regarding urban water conservation in California. Requires the Secretary to evaluate the benefits and cost analysis for each of the water conservation practices found by the specific water user preparing the required reports not to be feasible and to determine: (1) which practices would make additional water available to Central Valley streams or to a usable ground water basin that would not otherwise be available; and (2) for each of specified practices, the benefit/cost ratio of implementation if that water were used to fulfill wildlife refuge water supply obligation or made available to other water agencies through the transfer provisions established by this Act.
Authorizes the Secretary to implement those water conservation practices identified which conserve water, are economically feasible, and are prudent, with the entity holding the contractual right to the water conserved and then make that water available for use by Central Valley refuges as required by provisions of this Act, subject to specified requirements.
HR 3876 IH 102d CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 3876 To protect, restore, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat within the Central Valley of California, mitigate Central Valley Project Impacts in order to maintain the continued orderly operation of the Central Valley project, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES November 22, 1991 Mr. DOOLEY (for himself, Mr. LEHMAN of California, Mr. HERGER, Mr. CONDIT, and Mr. DOOLITTLE) introduced the following bill, which was referred jointly to the Committees on Merchant Marine and Fisheries and Interior and Insular Affairs A BILL To protect, restore, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat within the Central Valley of California, mitigate Central Valley Project Impacts in order to maintain the continued orderly operation of the Central Valley project, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the `Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Act of 1991'. SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE. The purposes of this Act are: (a) to protect, restore, and enhance fish and wildlife habitat in the Central Valley of California as specifically provided for within this Act; (b) to partially mitigate the impacts of the Central Valley Project on fish and wildlife habitat by requiring the implementation of specific habitat restoration actions; (c) to provide for the continued orderly operation of the Central Valley Project by resolution of fish and wildlife issues impacts; (d) to establish a joint Federal and State advisory committee to identify, develop and assist the Secretary of the Interior in the implementation of habitat restoration actions identified in this Act and a Federal task force to assist the Secretary of the Interior in the identification and development of additional habitat restoration actions that would provide means by which the mitigation of Central Valley Project impacts on fish and wildlife habitat and cost effective protection, restoration, and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat and resources in the Central Valley of California may be accomplished; (e) to encourage, through cost sharing and other related actions, the cooperation and contribution by the State of California and other non-Central Valley Project entities toward the protection, restoration and enhancement of fish and wildlife habitat within the Central Valley of California; (f) to increase the benefits provided by the Central Valley Project to California through the expanded use of water conservation and water transfers; (g) to achieve the purposes of this Act through implementation of projects, procedures and programs which do not result in further degradation of resources, including, but not limited to, groundwater, of the areas presently served by the Central Valley Project; and (h) to coordinate the efforts and actions authorized in this Act with other activities being undertaken within the State of California to insure that work is not unnecessarily duplicated and is coordinated to minimize inconsistent and counter-productive results and maximize the benefits to be obtained. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. As used in this Act: (a) The term `anadromous fisheries' includes runs of salmon, striped bass, steelhead trout, sturgeon, and American shad that ascend the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to reproduce after maturing in the San Francisco Bay and /or the ocean. (b) The terms `artificial propagation' and `artificial production' include spawning, hatching, incubating, and rearing fish in a hatchery or other facility constructed for production. (c) The term `Central Valley' means the watershed of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries including the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. (d) The term `Central Valley Project' means the Central Valley Project, California, as authorized in the Act of August 26, 1937 (50 Stat. 850), and all Acts amendatory thereto. (e) The term `Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee' means the Committee established in title I of this Act. (f) The term `Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Task Force' means the Task Force established in title I of this Act. (g) The term `Central Valley Project Service Area' means that area where water service has been authorized pursuant to the various feasibility studies and consequent congressional authorizations for the Central Valley Project. (h) The term `Central Valley Project water' means all water that is diverted, stored or delivered by the Bureau of Reclamation pursuant to water rights acquired pursuant to California law, including water made available under the so-called `exchange' and Sacramento River settlement contracts. (i) The term `Central Valley Project Water Contractors' means any entity which contracts for Central Valley Project water. (j) The term `Central Valley Project Water Contractors Fund' means the fund established in section 101(h) of this Act. (k) The term `Central Valley Refuges' includes the Sacramento, Delevan, Colusa, Sutter, Kesterson, San Luis, Merced, Pixley, and Kern National Wildlife Refuges, the Grassland Resource Conservation District, the Gray Lodge, Los Banos, Volta, and Mendota State Wildlife Areas, and those National Wildlife Refuges and State Wildlife Areas identified in the Bureau of Reclamation's report entitled `San Joaquin Basin Action Plan/Kesterson Mitigation Plan' (1989). (l) The term `critically overdrafted groundwater basin' means those areas defined by the California Department of Water Resources, in its Bulletin Number 118-80, to have a critical groundwater overdraft problem. (m) The term `natural production' means fish produced to adulthood without the direct intervention of man in the spawning or rearing processes. (n) The term `Refuge Water Supply Report' means the report entitled `Report on Refuge Water Supply Investigations' published in March 1989 by the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior. (o) The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of the Interior or his designee, except as otherwise provided. (p) The term `transfer' means: (1) all conjunctive use programs that provide for the transfer of all or a portion of the surface water made available by the use of groundwater as a substitute supply to another water use, (2) exchanges between water users, (3) groundwater storage programs that provide for transfer of all or a portion of the stored water to another water user directly or through exchange, (4) conservation programs that provide for all or a portion of the water conserved to be transferred to another water user, or TITLE I--CENTRAL VALLEY FISH AND WILDLIFE SEC. 101. PROTECTION, RESTORATION, AND ENHANCEMENT OF CENTRAL VALLEY FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITAT. (a) GENERAL AUTHORITY- The Secretary shall: (1) implement the actions established by section 101(b); (2) develop, select, and implement actions, using the criteria established in section 101(e), that address the fish and wildlife habitat issues listed in section 101(c); (3) as provided in section 102, establish a `Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee' that will make recommendations to the Secretary with respect to the actions set forth in sections 101(b) and 101(c) using the criteria established in section 101(e); and (4) as provided in section 103, establish a `Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Task Force' that will identify additional actions that would protect, restore, and enhance the Central Valley fish and wildlife habitat, develop the technical information needed to evaluate these actions, determine the economic and biological feasibility of these actions using the criteria established in section 101(e), and report the findings to Congress for implementation authorization. (b) INITIAL ACTION- Subject to limitations contained in sections 101(f)(6) and 101(f)(7), the following fish and wildlife habitat protection, restoration, and enhancement actions shall be implemented by the Secretary. (1) Negotiation and execution of an agreement with the California Department of Fish and Game by December 31, 1992, which, when implemented, will mitigate the direct fishery losses associated with the operation of the Tracy Pumping Plant. Direct losses are defined as fish lost after they enter the Tracy Pumping Plant intake channel, taking into account numbers of fish that survive and are returned to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(1). (2) Negotiation and execution of an agreement with the California Department of Fish and Game by December 31, 1994, which, when implemented, will mitigate for direct fishery losses associated with the operation of the Contra Costa Canal Pumping Plant Number 1. Direct fishery losses are defined as fish lost after they enter Rock Slough. The cost of this action shall be allocated in the same manner as costs associated with the Contra Costa Canal are currently paid. (3) Installation and operation of a structural temperature control device at Shasta Dam and development and implementation of modifications in Central Valley Project operations, if needed, by December 31, 1995, to allow for control of water temperatures in the upper Sacramento River from Keswick Dam to Red Bluff Diversion Dam sufficient to protect salmon. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(1). (4) The Coleman National Fish Hatchery shall be rehabilitated and expanded by implementing the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Coleman National Fish Hatchery Development Plan by December 31, 1995. The Secretary shall negotiate and execute a contract for the operation of the hatchery by the California Department of Fish and Game. The contract shall provide that its operation shall be coordinated with all other mitigation hatcheries in California. In addition, the Keswick Dam Fish Trap shall be modified to provide for its operation at all project flow release levels. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(1). (5) The negotiation and execution of an agreement with the California Department of Fish and Game, within one year after the enactment of this Act, which, when implemented, will eliminate, to the extent practical, losses of salmon and steelhead trout due to flow fluctuations caused by the operation of Keswick, Nimbus, and Lewiston Regulating Dams. The agreement shall be patterned after the agreement between the California Department of Water Resources and the California Department of Fish and Game with respect to the operation of the California State Water Project Oroville Dam complex. Any costs associated with this Agreement shall be non-reimbursable. (6) A gravel replenishment program shall be developed and implemented by December 31, 1993, for the purpose of restoring and replenishing, on a continuous basis, spawning gravel lost due to the construction and operation of Shasta, Folsom, and New Melones Dams, bank protection programs, and other actions that have reduced the availability of spawning gravel in the upper Sacramento River from Keswick Dam to Red Bluff Diversion Dam, and in the American and Stanislaus Rivers downstream of Nimbus and Goodwin Dams, respectively. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(2). (7) A Delta Cross Channel monitoring and operational program shall be developed and implemented, within one year after the enactment of this Act, for the purpose of protecting striped bass eggs and larvae as they approach the Delta Cross Channel gates. This program includes, but is not limited to, closing the Delta Cross Channel gates during times when significant numbers of striped bass eggs and larvae approach the Sacramento River intake to the Delta Cross Channel. Since this action will, by its nature, also restrict pumping at the Tracy Pumping Plant, other restrictions on the operation of the Delta Tracy Pumping Plant, which may currently exist to protect striped bass eggs and larvae, shall be modified, relaxed or eliminated to comport with this action. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(1). (8) The Secretary shall, either directly or through an agreement with the State of California, provide dependable water supplies of suitable quality to the Central Valley Refuges in accordance with `level 2' quantity and delivery schedules of the `Dependable Water Supply Needs' table for that refuge, as set forth in the Refuge Water Supply Report or as established by the Secretary for the refuges identified in the San Joaquin Basin Action Plan/Kesterson Mitigation Plan. If the Central Valley Project cannot deliver a full supply in any water year to the refuges and the Central Valley Project contractors, then the Secretary shall impose shortages on the Central Valley Project water provided the refuges that are equal to the shortages imposed on the non-water rights Central Valley Project agricultural contractors. The Secretary shall implement the actions authorized herein without a reduction in the pumping and/or conveyance capacity needed to serve other Central Valley Project purposes. The Secretary shall encourage the conjunctive use of surface water and groundwater and the multiple use of water supplies as a means to facilitate the purposes and intent of this sub-section. The dependable water supplies provided to the Central Valley Refuges pursuant to this sub-section shall be delivered until the firm water supplies provided for in section 101(c)(13) are available to these refuges, and shall be provided pursuant to agreements between the Secretary, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the Grasslands Resource Conservation District which shall be executed within one year after the enactment of this Act. Fifty percent of the cost of providing water to private refuges shall be paid for by those private refuges. The remaining cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(2). (9) The Secretary, in coordination with the California Department of Fish and Game, shall, within one year after the enactment of this Act, establish a comprehensive assessment program to monitor fish and wildlife resources in the Central Valley and to assess the biological results of actions implemented pursuant to this section and section 101(c). The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(2). (c) HABITAT RESTORATION ACTIONS- Subject to the limitations contained in sections 101(f)(6) and 101(f)(7), and utilizing the criteria in section 101(e), the Secretary shall develop, evaluate, select, and, unless otherwise specifically provided, by December 31, 2000, implement actions that will address the following fish and wildlife protection, restoration, and enhancement issues. (1) The Secretary shall develop and implement a program to eliminate the need to reduce Keswick Dam releases every spring to place the Anderson-Cottonwood Irrigation District's Diversion Dam into operation, and every fall to take the dam out of operation. Additionally, the program will include structural measures needed to address upstream migrating adult salmon passage problems at the diversion dam due to inadequate ladder attraction flows. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(3). (2) The Secretary shall develop and implement a program to minimize fish passage problems for salmon at the Central Valley Project Red Bluff Diversion Dam. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(4). (3) The Secretary shall develop and implement a program to augment natural production of salmon and steelhead trout population levels in the San Joaquin River system in above normal water years through means of artificial production. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(2). (4) The Secretary shall construct and operate a new satellite hatchery to augment the single and dual purpose channels at the Tehama Colusa Fish Facility and to further mitigate the impact of Shasta Dam on fishery resources. The new satellite hatchery shall be located at a suitable location upstream of the Red Bluff Diversion Dam. This new hatchery shall be operated by the California Department of Fish and Game under contract with the Secretary. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(2). (5) The Secretary shall construct a salmon and steelhead trout hatchery on the Yuba River. The Secretary shall negotiate and execute a contract with the California Department of Fish and Game to operate the hatchery. The objective of such hatchery is to assist in California's efforts to realize the full potential of salmon and steelhead trout natural production on that river and to assist in maintaining the existing runs of salmon and steelhead trout and create enhancement potential for natural production in above normal water years. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(3). (6) The Secretary shall negotiate and execute an agreement with the California Department of Fish and Game by December 31, 1993, that requires the release of the minimum flows necessary to take full advantage of the spawning, incubation, rearing and outmigration potential of the upper Sacramento River and the Lower American River for salmon subject to the physical capabilities of the Central Valley Project facilities involved. The Agreement shall provide for less than these minimum flows in dry and critical water years if the Secretary determines that in so doing he can minimize the impacts of providing the fishery flows on other Central Valley Project authorized purposes, provided the fishery benefits lost in those years are offset by enhancing spawning, incubation, rearing and outmigration conditions in other water years. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(1). The Secretary is authorized to assist in the funding of biological studies, in cooperation with the California Department of Fish and Game and the California State Water Resources Control Board, focused on furthering the scientific understanding of the salmon fishery in these rivers and to provide the information needed to verify that the intended fishery benefits are being provided by the minimum fishery requirements in this agreement and to allow for adjustments to the flow requirements in the future, if needed. If the Secretary and the California Department of Fish and Game determine that the flow conditions in the upper Sacramento River and lower American River provided by the Central Valley Project under this agreement are better than conditions that would have existed in the absence of the Central Valley Project facilities, the enhancement provided shall become credits to be provided Central Valley Project water and power contractors to offset future mitigation responsibilities identified pursuant to section 101(d). (7) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is directed to expedite and by no later than December 31, 1995, complete efforts to clean up mines causing intermittent releases of lethal concentrations of dissolved metals from the Spring Creek Debris Dam. In the interim, the Secretary shall provide water from Keswick Dam sufficient to dilute the Spring Creek Debris Dam discharges to concentration levels that allow survival of fish life below Keswick Dam except when the United States Corps of Engineers' flood control criteria for Shasta Dam limit that capability. The cost of this action, not including the cost of Environmental Protection Agency actions, shall be allocated under section 101(f)(3). If the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency fails to complete such efforts by December 31, 1995, all such costs shall be assumed by the Agency. (8) The Secretary shall provide flows to allow sufficient spawning, incubation, rearing and outmigration conditions for salmon and steelhead trout from Whiskeytown Dam as determined by instream flow studies conducted by the California Department of Fish and Game after Clear Creek has been restored and a new fish ladder has been constructed at the McCormick-Saeltzer Dam. The cost of providing the required flows shall be allocated under section 101(f)(1). Any federal cost associated with the restoration of the Clear Creek or in the construction of a fish ladder at the McCormick-Saeltzer Dam shall be allocated under section 101(f)(3). (9) The Secretary is authorized to construct, in partnership with the State of California, a barrier at the head of Old River in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, by December 31, 1995, to partially mitigate the impact of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project pumping plants in the south Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on the survival of young outmigrating salmon that are diverted from the San Joaquin River to the pumps. The cost of constructing, operating and maintaining the barrier shall be shared 50 percent by the State of California and 50 percent by the Federal Government. The Federal share shall be allocated under section 101(f)(1). (10) The Secretary shall evaluate and implement a program to correct a defective fish screen at the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District's Sacramento River diversion which was constructed with Federal and State funding and which does not function due to design errors. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(3). (11) The Secretary shall assist in the funding, in coordination with the California Department of Fish and Game, of enforcement measures that will reduce the numbers of striped bass illegally taken from the San Francisco Bay Estuary. The cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(3). (12) The Secretary shall provide such assistance as may be requested by the State of California to develop and implement fishing regulations that will protect the older more productive striped bass females in order to maintain a viable reproducing striped bass population. (13) The Secretary shall develop and implement measures that will provide additional dependable water supplies of suitable quality. The conveyance capacity needed to deliver this water and associated refuge facilities to permit full habitat development of the Central Valley Refuges and the water provided shall be up to the `level 4' quantity and delivery schedules in the `Dependable Water Supply Needs' table as set forth in the Refuge Water Supply Report or as established by the Secretary for the refuges identified in the San Joaquin Basin Action Plan/Kesterson Mitigation Plan. Water for this purpose shall be provided by: (1) the Secretary providing Central Valley Project water supply on a firm basis equal to the amount currently delivered by the Central Valley Project on a non-firm basis, provided that if the Central Valley Project cannot deliver a full supply in any water year to the refuges and the Central Valley Project contractors, then shortages shall be imposed on the Central Valley Project water provided the refuges that are equal to the shortages imposed on the non-water rights Central Valley Project agricultural contractors; (2) voluntary water conservation or conjunctive use purchases provided the surface water being made available through conjunctive use does not come from an area in a critically overdrafted groundwater condition and the conserved water being purchased would not be available to another user of Central Valley surface or groundwater in the absence of the water conservation purchase; and (3) voluntary water purchases from existing Central Valley Project water contractors provided the water being purchased would have been consumptively used in the absence of the specific water purchase. No additional Central Valley Project water shall be made available for this purpose nor should any Central Valley Project conveyance capacity be made available for this purpose if that conveyance capacity is needed to convey water to existing Central Valley Project water contractors. Fifty percent of the cost of providing water to private refuges shall be paid by those private refuges. The remaining cost of this action shall be allocated under section 101(f)(3). (d) ADDITIONAL HABITAT RESTORATION ACTIONS- Subject to the limitations contained in sections 101(f)(6) and 101(f)(7) and utilizing the criteria in section 101(e), the Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Task Force established in section 103 of title I of this Act shall identify additional actions that would provide mitigation of Central Valley Project impacts on Central Valley fish and wildlife habitat and would protect, restore, and enhance Central Valley fish and wildlife habitat. The Task Force shall develop the information needed to evaluate these actions technically, determine the economic and biological feasibility using the criteria established in section 101(e), determine appropriate cost allocations specific to each action, and select actions to recommend to Congress for authorization to implement. The Task Force shall make its first report to Congress no later than December 31, 1995; and shall report every five years thereafter, at a minimum, until the year 2010, when the Task Force shall cease to exist. Fish and wildlife habitat issues to be evaluated by the Task Force shall include, but not be limited, to the following: (1) Determination of the flows and habitat restoration measures needed to protect, restore and enhance salmon and steelhead trout in the San Joaquin River below the confluence with the Merced River, Mokelumne River, and Calaveras River and in the Butte, Deer, Mill, and Battle Creeks, which are tributary to the Sacramento River, and development of feasible means of maintaining those flows and implementing the habitat restoration measures identified. (2) Investigation of actions allowing closure or screening of the Delta Cross Channel and Georgiana Slough to prevent the diversion of out-migrating salmon and steelhead trout through those facilities. (3) Investigation of the need to expand existing wildlife refuges and/or develop additional wildlife refuges in the Central Valley beyond what is included in the Refuge Water Supply Report. The Task Force shall also determine the water supply and delivery requirements, above level 4, necessary to permit full habitat development of existing wildlife refuges and determine feasible means of meeting that water supply requirement. (4) Investigation of alternative means of improving the reliability of water supplies currently available to privately owned wetlands in the Central Valley. (5) As a means of increasing survival of migrating young fish, investigation of the feasibility of using short pulses of increased water flows to move salmon, steelhead trout, and striped bass into and through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. (6) Investigation of ways to maintain suitable temperatures for young salmon survival in the lower Sacramento River and in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by controlling or relocating the discharge of irrigation return flows and sewage effluent. (7) Investigation of the need for additional hatchery production to mitigate the impacts of water development on Central Valley fisheries where no other feasible means of mitigation is available or where hatchery production would enhance efforts to increase natural production of a particular species. (8) Investigation of measures available to correct flow pattern problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta created by the operation of the Central Valley Project and California State Water Project as well as San Francisco Bay inflow pattern changes caused by the operation of water development projects in the Central Valley. (9) Evaluation of measures to avoid unquantified losses of juvenile anadromous fish due to unscreened or inadequately screened diversions on the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, their tributaries, and in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta such as construction of screens on unscreened diversions, rehabilitation of existing screens, replacement of existing non-functioning screens, and relocation of diversions to less fishery-sensitive areas. (10) Elimination of barriers to upstream migration of salmon and steelhead trout adults to spawning areas downstream of existing storage facilities in the Central Valley caused by agriculture diversions and other obstructions reduce the natural production of these species as well as removal programs or programs for the construction of new fish ladders. (e) SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND BIOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS- In fulfilling their responsibilities as specified in sections 101(c) and 101(d), the Secretary, the Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee, and the Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Task Force shall consider the following criteria and factors, and issue findings thereon, when determining which alternate programs, policies or procedures should be implemented to protect, restore and/or enhance fish and wildlife conditions. The alternative programs available to implement specific actions in sections 101(c) and 101(d) that best meets all of the following criteria shall be selected. (1) Natural production alternatives shall be given priority over artificial production alternatives; (2) Alternatives that have the highest biological probability of achieving the desired objective shall be preferred. (3) Alternatives that provide a greater magnitude of potential benefits shall be given priority over alternatives which have a lesser magnitude of potential benefits. (4) Alternatives that are determined to be the most cost effective, measured in economic terms considering impacts with the Central Valley Project service area's water and power resources and related industries. (f) COST ALLOCATIONS- The fiscal cost of implanting actions listed in section 101(b) and selected pursuant to section 101(c) shall be allocated as follows: (1) Costs specified within sections 101(b) and 101(c) as allocated under this sub-section shall be first allocated among Central Valley Project purposes, with reimbursable costs then allocated between Central Valley Project water and power contractors pursuant to applicable statutory and regulatory procedures and assessed pursuant to the provisions of section 101(h) of this Act. (2) Costs specified within sections 101(b) as allocable under this sub-section shall be allocated 37.5 percent to the Central Valley Project, 37.5 percent as a non-reimbursable federal expenditure, and 25 percent payable by the State of California. Central Valley Project purposes with reimbursable costs then allocated between Central Valley Project water and power contractors and assessed pursuant to the provisions of section 101(h) of this Act. Central Valley Project costs determined to be non-reimbursable shall be added to the non-reimbursable federal expenditure. (3) Costs specified within sections 101(b) and 101(c) as allocable under this sub-section shall be allocated 50 percent as a federal non-reimbursable cost and 50 percent to the State of California. (4) Costs associated with actions that are determined to be a Central Valley Project responsibility under sections 101(f)(1) and 101(f)(2) that pay for the replacement of existing Central Valley Project facilities that have not properly mitigated the effects of the Central Valley Project on the environment because of the design errors by federal agencies, shall be allocated as a federal non-reimbursable cost. (5) Central Valley Project power shall be used to supply the capacity and energy needs of actions identified in sections 101(b) and 101(c) where the costs or a portion of the costs have been allocated to the Central Valley Project as a reimbursable cost pursuant to sub-sections (1) and (2) of this section. The value of the Central Valley Project power, calculated as the cost of obtaining dependable power from other available sources, shall be credited against the Central Valley Project power contractors' share of the cost of actions that are mitigating the effects of the Central Valley fish and wildlife habitat as determined pursuant to section 101(f) (2). (6) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, the Secretary shall not undertake any action authorized herein unless the State of California makes appropriate commitments to participate in the actions identified in this Act, provides relevant State approvals for identified actions, and agrees to participate in the cost sharing provisions of this Act. Where local agency action or approval is required within this Act, the Secretary shall not proceed unless that local agency approval or participation is secured: Provided, however, That nothing herein is intended to require Central Valley Project water or power contractors' approval or participation as a condition on the Secretary's ability to proceed with mandated actions. (7) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Act, no actions authorized in this Act shall be implemented unless such actions are consistent with State water law and will not constitute an unreasonable use of water as that term is used within article X, section 2, of the Constitution of the State of California. (g) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES- (1) The Secretary is authorized to promulgate such regulations and enter into such agreements as may be necessary to implement the purposes and provisions of this Act. (2) In order to carry out the purposes and provisions of section 101(c)(12), the Secretary is authorized, consistent with state law, to obtain water supplies from any source available to the Secretary: Provided, That such acquisition shall be pursuant to State law and any purchases shall be from willing sellers only. The Secretary, however, except as specifically provided herein, shall not diminish water supplies available to Central Valley Project contractors without compensation. (3) The Secretary shall determine and implement the actions mandated by sections 101(b) and 101(c) in the most efficient and cost effective means available. Should the Secretary determine that the State of California or a local agency of the State of California is best able to implement an action authorized by this Act, the Secretary shall negotiate with the State of California or a local agency of the State of California an agreement which would allow the State of California or a local agency of the State of California to undertake the identified action. In the event no such agreement can be negotiated, the Secretary shall proceed to implement the action through means available to him. (4) The Secretary is hereby authorized and directed: (i) as an integral part of this Act, to initiate studies of any and all facilities that would assist in fully meeting the fish and wildlife purposes of this Act. The Secretary shall, for each facility identified, also study the feasibility of these facilities for other purposes, including, but not limited to, water and power supplies. Cost allocations for identified multiple purpose facilities should be in accordance with the allocation of water developed or conveyed or otherwise made available by those facilities. (ii) to, within one year of enactment of this Act, conduct and complete operation studies for updating the hydrology and determining the average annual yield of the Central Valley Project. In undertaking these studies, the Secretary shall: (A) analyze the current operation of the Central Valley Project to achieve authorized purposes; (B) incorporate the operational and water requirements necessary to operate the Central Valley Project to achieve the fish and wildlife provisions as set forth in sections 101(b) and 101(c) and the operational and water requirements necessary to undertake actions recommended by the Secretary pursuant to section 101(d); and (C) after considering sub-sections g(4)(ii)(A) and g(4)(ii)(B), identify the available average annual yield of presently developed, but unutilized water supply of the Central Valley Project, if any. (iii) to operate all of the facilities of the Central Valley Project so as to maximize and optimize the development of the average annual yield of the Project for the authorized purposes of the Central Valley Project and for the purposes set forth in this Act. (iv) to enter into water service contracts for that yield identified in sub-section (g)(4)(ii)(C) of this Act for the restoration of critically overdrafted groundwater basins. (v) to construct, operate and maintain facilities capable of storing, conveying and delivering water south of the delta, including enlargement of the Delta-Mendota canal and participation in Los Banos Grandes, as additions to, and integral parts of, the Central Valley Project, California, for conveyance and storage of additional Central Valley Project water south of the Delta as contemplated in the staged program set forth in the USBR `Report of the San Joaquin Valley Conveyance Investigation,' California, June 1990 (1990 Conveyance Report), if the Secretary has identified water as specified in sub-section (g)(4)(ii)(C) of this Act. (vi) to negotiate and execute agreements with the State of California and others for conveyance and storage of Central Valley Project Water in State and other facilities. (h) Funding- (1) AUTHORIZATION- There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out the purposes and provisions of this Act. Funds appropriated under this section are authorized to remain available until expended. (2) CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT WATER CONTRACTORS REPAYMENT- The amount to be repaid by water contractors under sections 101(f)(1) and 101(f)(2) of this Act shall be collected as follows: (i) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 105 of Public Law 99-546, the amount to be repaid bye the Central Valley Project water contractors under sections 101(f)(1) and 101(f)(2) shall be capitalized for a period necessary to insure repayment, consistent with the provisions of sub-section 101(h)(ii). (ii) Annual payment of the capitalized costs to be repaid by the Central Valley Project water contractors under sections 101(f)(1) and 101(f)(2) shall not exceed $1.00 an acre foot for each acre foot of water delivered under contract to such contractors. (iii) The annual payments set forth in sub-section 101(h)(ii), together with interest thereon, shall be placed into a Central Valley Project Water Contractors Fund to be established by the Secretary. The first assessment shall be collected as part of water charges during the first water year which commences at least ninety days after enactment. The Central Valley Project Water Contractors Fund shall be utilized exclusively to repay costs of Central Valley Project water contractors incurred under sections 101(f)(1) and 101(f)(2). The Secretary is authorized to use the funds within the Central Valley Project Water Contractors Fund, for these purposes, without further authorization, but subject to appropriation. (iv) The provisions of this sub-section 101(h)(2)(i) shall apply only to Central Valley Project water delivered to Central Valley water contractors for water delivered under contract with the Bureau of Reclamation pursuant to which additional payments for such water are required. (3) CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT POWER CONTRACTORS REPAYMENT- The amount to be repaid by Central Valley Project power contractors, pursuant to sections 101(f)(1) and 101(f)(2), shall be collected by the Secretary in accordance with existing law, policy, and practices for the repayment, by Central Valley Project power contractors, of operation and maintenance and capital costs allocated to those power contractors. (4) COST SHARING- The State of California and other parties identified in sections 101(f)(2) and 101(f)(3) shall pay an amount equal to the amount allocated within those sections each year. In addition to cost outlays or payments to the Treasury of the United States, the Secretary may consider as a financial contribution by the State of California, Central Valley Project contractors, or other parties identified in sections 101(f)(2) and 101(f)(3) the value of contributions of personal or real property or personnel which the Secretary determines is beneficial to the achievement of the objectives of this Act. Such contributions may include the provisions of water or water conveyance capacity to meet the requirements of this Act. (5) REMAINING COSTS- The remaining costs shall be considered non-reimbursable costs as a Federal contribution for preserving, protecting, restoring and enhancing fish and wildlife resources within the Central Valley of California. SEC. 102. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT FISH AND WILDLIFE ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) ESTABLISHMENT- In order to carry out the purposes of title I of this Act, there is hereby established the Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee, hereinafter referred to as the `Committee'. (b) FUNCTIONS- The Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee shall make recommendations to the Secretary with respect to the actions set forth in sections 101(b) and 101(c). Such recommendations shall be strictly advisory in nature and shall not be binding on the Secretary. (c) MEMBERSHIPS AND APPOINTMENTS- The Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee shall be composed of the Secretary and the California Secretary of Resources and twenty-one additional members appointed jointly by them, as follows: (1) A non-fishery representative of the Upper Sacramento River Fisheries Task Force. (2) A representative of the California commercial salmon fishing industry. (3) A representative of the California sports fishing interests. (4) A representative of the California Department of Fish and Game. (5) A representative of the California Department of Water Resources. (6) A representative of the California State Water Resources Control Board. (7) A representative of the Bureau of Reclamation. (8) A representative of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. (9) A representative of the Bureau of Land Management. (10) A representative of the United States National Marine Fisheries Service. (11) A representative of the United States Corps of Engineers. (12) A representative of the Western Area Power Administration. (13) A representative of California wildlife interests. (14) A representative of the Central Valley Project agriculture contractors. (15) A representative of the Central Valley Project urban contractors. (16) A representative of the State Water Project agriculture contractors. (17) A representative of the State Water Project urban contractors. (18) A representative of environmental interests in California. (19) A representative of the Central Valley Project power users. (20) A representative of agriculture who does not receive water pursuant to a Central Valley Project or State Water Project contract. (21) A representative of urban water users who does not receive water pursuant to a Central Valley Project or State Water Project contract. (d) TERMS AND VACANCIES- (1) The term of a member of the Committee shall be for the life of the Committee. (2) Any vacancy on the Committee shall be filled through appointment jointly by the Secretary and the California Secretary of Resources. (e) TRANSACTION OF BUSINESS- (1) CHAIRMEN- The Committee shall be co-chaired by the Secretary and the California Secretary of Resources. (2) MEETINGS- Except as provided in paragraph (3), the Committee shall meet at the call of the Chairmen or upon the request of a majority of its members. (3) RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE- All recommendations of the Committee shall be through a two-thirds majority vote. (f) STAFF AND ADMINISTRATION- (1) Administration Support. The Secretary, in cooperation with the State of California, shall provide the Committee with necessary administrative and technical support services. (2) INFORMATION- The Secretary, in cooperation with the State of California and to the extent practicable, shall furnish the members of the Committee with all information and other assistance relevant to the functions of the Committee. (3) ORGANIZATION- The Committee shall determine its organization and prescribe the practices and procedures for carrying out its functions under sub-section (b). The Committee may establish committees or working groups of technical representatives of Committee members to advise the Committee on specific matters. (g) MEMBERS WHO ARE FEDERAL OR STATE EMPLOYEES- Any Committee member who is appointed to the Committee by reason of his employment as an officer or employee of the United states or the State of California shall cease to be a member of the Committee on the date on which that member ceases to be so employed. (h) TRAVEL EXPENSES- While away from their homes or regular places of business in the performance of service for the Committee members and their technical representatives shall be allowed travel expenses, including a per diem allowance in lieu of subsistence, in the same manner as persons employed intermittently in Government service are allowed travel expenses under section 5703 of title 5, United States Code. Any Committee member or technical representative who is an employee of an agency or governmental unit of the United States or the State of California and is eligible for travel expenses from that agency or unit for performing services for the Committee shall not be eligible for travel expenses under this paragraph. (i) COMPENSATION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES- Members of the Committee and technical representatives who are full-time officers or employees of the United States shall receive no additional pay, allowances, or benefits by reason of their service on the Committee. (j) TERMINATION- The Central Valley Project Fish and Wildlife Advisory Committee shall cease to exist on December 31, 2010. SEC. 103. ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT FISH AND WILDLIFE TASK FORCE. (a) ESTABLISHMENT- The Secretary shall, within thirty days after enactment of this Act, establish a Task Force to review, evaluate and make recommendations with respect to matters identified; and in the manner provided for in section 101(d) of title I of this Act. A minority report may be submitted if consensus recommendations cannot be achieved on any matter studied or reported on by the Task Force. (b) SELECTION OF TASK FORCE MEMBERS- The Task Force shall be comprised of fifteen members. The Secretary shall select the members of the Task Force as follows: (1) The Secretary shall include on the Task Force six members recommended by the Governor of the State of California. (2) The Secretary shall include on the Task Force three members recommended by each of the following: (i) Chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources; and (ii) Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. (3) The Secretary shall also include on the Task Force three members of his own selection. (4) with respect to the recommendations and selections set forth in sections 103(b)(1), 103(b)(2) and 103(b)(3), the Task Force shall be comprised of, but not limited to: (i) members of the general public; (ii) representatives of the Central Valley Project Water Contractors; (iii) representatives of the State Water Project Contractors; (iv) representatives of the Central Valley Project power contractors; (v) representatives of other affected water and irrigation organizations and entities; and (vi) representatives of fish and wildlife organizations. (c) ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION OF THE TASK FORCE- The Secretary shall appoint a Task Force Chairman who will set the dates of hearings, meetings, workshops, and other official Task Force functions in carrying out the purposes of this Act. The Secretary is authorized and directed to finance from funds available to him the reasonable costs and expenses of the Task Force and its members in carrying out the mandate of this section. This shall include all reasonable travel and related expenses. The Task Force shall dissolve on December 31, 2010. TITLE II--WATER TRANSFERS SEC. 201. PROVISIONS FOR TRANSFER OF CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT WATER. (a) TRANSFERS WITHIN THE CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT SERVICE AREA- Subject to the provisions of section 201(f), the Secretary is authorized to approve all transfer agreements among Central Valley Project contractors and between Central Valley Project contractors and non-contractors involving Central Valley Project water within the authorized Central Valley Project service area. (b) TRANSFERS WHICH RESULT IN NO NET EXPORT OF WATER OUTSIDE THE CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT SERVICE AREA- Subject to the provisions of section 201(f), the Secretary is authorized to approve all transfer agreements between Central Valley Project contractors and parties outside of the Central Valley Project service area upon the determination that as a result of the proposed transaction over the term of the transfer agreement there is no net export of water out of the Central Valley Project service area of the transferor. (c) TRANSFERS WHICH RESULT IN A NET EXPORT OF WATER OUTSIDE THE CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT SERVICE AREA- Except for transactions authorized under sections 201(d) and 201(e) and subject to the provisions of section 201(f), the Secretary is authorized to approve all transfers between Central Valley Project water contractors and parties outside of the Central Valley Project service area where the Secretary determines that as a result of the proposed transaction over the term of transfer agreement there will be a net export of water out of the service area of the transferor, provided that the transfer meets the following conditions: (1) The water being transferred would not otherwise be available to other consumptive beneficial uses absent implementation of the program; and (2) Over the term of the agreement in question, the transfer will have no significant, long-term, adverse impact on groundwater conditions in the transferor's service area. (d) TRANSFERS OF WATER DEVELOPED THROUGH TEMPORARY FALLOWING OR PERMANENT LAND FALLOWING- Subject to the provisions of section 201(f), the Secretary is authorized and directed to approve transfers of Central Valley Project water within or outside of the authorized Central Valley Project service area where the water to be transferred is available for transfer because of the implementation, by the transferor or landowner, of a temporary fallowing or permanent land fallowing program, including land retirement, provided that the involved Central Valley Project water contractor determines that the following conditions are satisfied: (1) The program will have no significant long-term adverse impact on groundwater conditions. (2) The water developed under the program shall be that water that would have been consumptively used on crops had those crops been produced during the year(s) of the transfer or water that would have otherwise been lost for beneficial use (that is wet water). (3) No more than 80 percent of the water developed under such transfer shall be made available for export out of the transferor's service area with 10 percent distributed within the transferor's service area to assist in the protection of groundwater resources and 10 percent applied to fish and wildlife purposes within the Central Valley Project service area pursuant to a program approved by the Secretary. (4) In order to avoid adverse third party impacts the total quantity of water exported under all such transfers by the transferor or landowner shall not exceed 20 percent of the total annual water supply delivered by the Central Valley Project that otherwise would have been available in any particular year for use within the service area of the transferor or 3,000 acre-feet, whichever is greater. (5) The program will have no unreasonable impacts on water supply, operations or financial condition of the water contractor or its water users. (e) TRANSFERS OUTSIDE OF THE CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT SERVICE AREA DURING CERTAIN CRITICAL YEARS- Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 201(c) and 201(d) and subject to the provisions of section 201(f), the Secretary is authorized to approve both long-term and short-term contracts for the transfer of Central Valley Project water outside of the Central Valley Project service area during dry and critically dry years, as determined by the California Department of Water Resources, where the water is to be transferred to a water district or other public agency which the Secretary determines, in the absence of the transfer, would have been required, after the imposition of water conservation measures, to impose a 25 percent or greater deficiency on its customers. (f) GENERAL PROVISIONS- The following provisions shall also apply to any transfer: (1) No program and/or agreements authorized under this title shall be approved unless the action is between a willing buyer and a willing seller under such terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon; (2) No program and/or agreements authorized under this title shall be approved unless the proposed action is consistent with State law including, but not limited to, the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act. (3) All programs and/or agreements authorized under this title involving Central Valley Project water, shall be deemed a beneficial use of water by the transferor. (4) All programs and/or agreements authorized under this title must include a Central Valley Project water contractor as a transferor and as a contracting party. The criteria established within section 201(d) are intended to govern the exercise of a Central Valley Project water contractor's approval of a transfer proposed by a landowner within the service area of the Central Valley Project water contractor. The provisions of the title are only intended to govern the transfer of Central Valley Project water. (5) Notwithstanding any contrary provisions contained within Central Valley Project water contracts, in implementing programs and/or agreements authorized under this title, there shall be no limitations on the use of agricultural water for municipal and industrial purposes or municipal and industrial water for agricultural purposes. All transferees of Central Valley Project water shall strictly comply with acreage and pricing requirements of reclamation law applicable to the actual use of Central Valley Project water by the transferee, rates for the applicable uses of water by the transferee shall apply to the transferee during the year or years of actual transfer and shall not be applied to the transferor. (6) All agreements entered into pursuant to this title between Central Valley Project water contractors and entities outside of the Central Valley Project service area shall be subject to a right of first refusal on the same terms and conditions by entities within the Central Valley Project service area. The right of first refusal must be exercised within ninety days from the date that notice is provided of the proposed transfer. Should an entity exercise the right of first refusal, it must compensate the transferee who had negotiated the agreement upon which the right of first refusal is being exercised for that entity's full costs associated with the development and negotiation of the agreement. (7) Agreements entered into pursuant to this title shall not be considered as conferring new, supplemental or additional benefits, nor shall they be otherwise subject to the provisions of section 203 of Public Law 97-293 (43 U.S.C. 390(cc)). (8) No programs and/or agreements authorized under this title shall be approved unless the Secretary has determined that the action will have no adverse effect on the Secretary's ability to deliver water pursuant to the Secretary's Central Valley Project contractual obligations because of limitations in conveyance or pumping capacity. (g) THE ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT WATER CONTRACT TRANSFER SECURITY AND CERTAINTY- (1) All existing and future contracts for Central Valley Project water shall be deemed to allow for the transfers and exchanges provided for within this section. (2) In order to encourage and aid in the transfer and exchange of water, as provided for within this title, all Central Valley Project contractors who are parties to a long-term transfer or exchange contract shall be entitled to renew its water contract for, at a minimum, a term equal to the remaining term of the transfer or exchange agreement at the time that the underlying contract is to be renewed. (3) All agreements entered into under sections 201(b)-(e) of this title shall provide that, during the year(s) of actual transfer, Central Valley Project water subject to transfer shall be repayed at `full cost' as that term is defined at section 390(bb) of title 43, United States Code. TITLE III--WATER CONSERVATION SEC. 301. AGRICULTURAL WATER CONSERVATION FEASIBILITY STUDIES. (a) GENERAL- This objective of this title is to encourage implementation of financially feasible water conservation practices. Water conservation practices include those practices which make water available that would not otherwise have been available to Central Valley streams or which do not worsen groundwater conditions. Water conservation, for the purposes of this Act, does not include land fallowing. (b) WATER CONSERVATION FEASIBILITY STUDIES- All existing Central Valley Project agricultural contractors shall submit a report to the Secretary which identifies water conservation practices within two years after enactment of this Act. For such practices identified, the report shall analyze the cost and benefits to that entity and its customers of implementing each of the water conservation practices listed in this Section, to the extent they apply to that entity, and any additional practices the Secretary determines should be analyzed. (1) Water management: (i) monitoring water supplies, deliveries and accounting; (ii) providing farmers with crop evapotranspiration information; and providing scheduling procedures for ordering water which correspond with demand for irrigation water to the extent practical; (iii) monitoring of surface water qualities and quantities; (iv) monitoring of groundwater elevations and quality; and (v) monitoring of quantity and quality of drainage waters within facilities the district owns or controls. (2) District Facility Improvements: (i) improving the maintenance or upgrading of water measuring devices; (ii) automating canal structures; (iii) lining or piping ditches and canals; (iv) modifying distribution facilities to increase water delivery flexibility; (v) constructing or lining regulatory reservoirs; (vi) developing recharge basins, implementing in lieu recharge programs or other means of recharging groundwater basins when adequate supplies are available; and (vii) evaluating and improving pump efficiencies of district pumping facilities. (3) District Institutional Adjustments: (i) improving communications and cooperation among districts, farmers and other agencies; (ii) adjusting the water fee structure to provide incentives for efficient use of water and to reduce drainage discharges; (iii) increasing flexibility in the ordering and timing of deliveries to meet crop demands; and (iv) increasing conjunctive use of groundwater and surface water. (4) District Water User Management Programs: (i) assisting the facilitation of the financing of physical improvements for district and on-farm irrigation systems; (ii) providing educational seminars for staff and farmers; and conducting public information programs, which seminars and programs shall address the following subjects, to the extent applicable to the area; and (A) improving existing on-farm and district-wide irrigation efficiency; (B) monitoring of soil moisture salinity; (C) promoting of efficient pre-irrigation techniques; (D) promoting of on-farm irrigation system evaluations; (E) constructing tail-water deliveries; (F) improving on-farm irrigation and drainage systems; and (G) evaluating and improving water user pump efficiencies. (iii) providing water users with crop evapotranspiration data and information. (c) BENEFITS AND COSTS- The benefits and costs of implementation of specific water conservation practices shall be evaluated through analysis of, but not limited to, the impact on the following: (1) water usage; (2) electrical energy usage; (3) labor and equipment required, including costs of training personnel; (4) crop yields; (5) reduction or increase in drainage related problems; (6) fish and wildlife habitat conditions; (7) costs of construction; (8) costs of operation and maintenance; (9) costs of water information programs; and (10) costs of computer equipment and software. SEC. 302. IMPLEMENTATION. (a) AGRICULTURAL CONTRACT WATER CONSERVATION REQUIREMENTS- All Central Valley Project agricultural contractors shall develop a plan for implementation of water conservation practices determined by the entity within the water conservation report required under section 301 of this Act to be financially and otherwise feasible for the specific entity. The entity shall complete the plan for implementation within one year after completion of the report required in section 301. Financially feasible conservation practices which will cause environmental harm, including, but not limited to, adversely affecting groundwater conditions, or are inconsistent with other requirements of law, shall not be required to be implemented. (b) ON-FARM WATER CONSERVATION INCENTIVE PROGRAM- There is hereby established a Water Conservation Incentive Program, which shall be administered by the Secretary to encourage and assist with the on-farm implementation of the water conservation practices set forth in section 301(b)(4). Said program shall be a Guarantee Loan Program, and the Secretary may enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Secretary of Agriculture to administer such program in conjunction with other programs offered through the Department of Agriculture. (c) MUNICIPAL AND INDUSTRIAL CONTRACT WATER CONSERVATION REQUIREMENTS- The Secretary shall require all Central Valley Project municipal and industrial water users, to the extent they provide retail, municipal and industrial water service, to comply with the provisions of the September 19, 1991, `Memorandum of Understanding regarding Urban Water Conservation in California'. (d) SECRETARIAL REVIEW- The Secretary shall evaluate the benefits and cost analysis for each of the water conservation practices found by the specific water user preparing the water conservation reports required by section 301 of this Act to be not feasible and determine the following: (1) Which water conservation practices, if implemented, would make additional water available to Central Valley streams or to a usable groundwater basin that would not otherwise be available in the absence of implementation of the water conservation practice. (2) For each water conservation practice identified in section 302(d)(1), the benefit/cost ratio of implementing that water conservation practice if that water were used to fulfill wildlife refuge water supply obligations established by this Act; or made available to other water agencies through the transfer provisions established by this Act. (e) WATER CONSERVATION PRACTICES- The Secretary may implement those water conservation practices identified which conserve water, are economically feasible, and which the Secretary determines are prudent, through implementation of the identified water conservation practice with the entity holding the contractual right to the water conserved and then making that water available for use by Central Valley refuges as required by provisions of this Act, provided that an agreement is entered into between the entity and Secretary that insures the entity and its water users are not damaged by such measures, including, but not limited to, increasing cost to the entity or its water users or interferes with the ability of the entity water users to produce crops. The Secretary shall fund the implementation of a specific water conservation practice in exchange for the use of the saved water. If the Secretary determines that purchasing water for the Central Valley refuges by implementing specific water conservation practices found to meet the requirements of section 302(d)(1) is not feasible, he shall make that water available to other California water agencies by negotiating and executing agreements between the United States, the entity holding the Central Valley Project contractual right to the saved water, and entities interested in obtaining the conserved water in exchange for funding the implementation of the water conservation practice.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.
Referred to the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the Environment.
Executive Comment Requested from Interior, EPA.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Water, Power and Offshore Energy Resources.
Subcommittee Hearings Held.
Unfavorable Executive Comment Received from Interior.
See H.R.5099.
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