[House Report 109-443]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
109th Congress Report
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session 109-443
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CONJUNCTIVE USE OF SURFACE AND GROUNDWATER IN JUAB COUNTY, UTAH
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April 27, 2006.--Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the
State of the Union and ordered to be printed
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Mr. Pombo, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4013]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 4013) to amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and
Adjustment Act of 1992 to provide for conjunctive use of
surface and groundwater in Juab County, Utah, having considered
the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and
recommend that the bill do pass.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of H.R. 4013 is to amend the Reclamation
Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 to provide
for conjunctive use of surface and groundwater in Juab County,
Utah.
Background and Need for Legislation
The federal Central Utah Project has enabled the State of
Utah to beneficially use a substantial portion of its allotted
share of Colorado River water under the Colorado River Compact.
During initial Project feasibility studies, planners had
envisioned developing water supplies in the northern
mountainous region and delivering them through a series of
reservoirs, tunnels and pipelines to the southern basin areas,
including Juab County. That plan never materialized because it
was initially determined that the water would stay north to
meet the growing population demands of the northern counties
rather than agricultural needs in the southern counties.
Although Juab County continues to pay into the Project, it is
not receiving benefits.
As local water demands grow, Juab County is seeking to more
effectively use its existing water supplies through conjunctive
use of surface and groundwater sources. H.R. 4013 amends
Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992
(Public Law 102-575) by adding Juab County to the list of Utah
counties eligible to receive federal funds for this conjunctive
use purpose.
Committee Action
H.R. 4013 was introduced on October 7, 2005, by Congressman
Chris Cannon (R-UT). The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources, and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
Water and Power. On February 8, 2006, the Subcommittee held a
hearing on the bill. On March 29, 2006, the Full Resources
Committee met to consider the bill. The Subcommittee on Water
and Power was discharged from further consideration of the bill
by unanimous consent. No amendments were offered, and the bill
was ordered favorably reported to the House of Representatives
by unanimous consent.
Section-by-Section Analysis
Section 1. Conjunctive use of surface and groundwater in Juab County,
Utah
This section amends section 202(a)(2) of the Reclamation
Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 (Public Law
102-575) to make Juab County, Utah, eligible to receive federal
grants to study conjunctive use of surface and groundwater
resources.
Committee Oversight Findings and Recommendations
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
Constitutional Authority Statement
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
Compliance With House Rule XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that Rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, spending
authority, credit authority, or an increase or decrease in
revenues or tax expenditures.
3. General Performance Goals and Objectives. This bill does
not authorize funding and therefore, clause 3(c)(4) of rule
XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives does not
apply.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
H.R. 4013--A bill to amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and
Adjustment Act of 1992 to provide for conjunctive use of
surface and groundwater in Juab County, Utah
CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 4013 would not affect
direct spending or revenues, but would increase spending
subject to appropriation from amounts previously authorized.
This bill would add the county of Juab, Utah, to a list of
counties that are eligible to receive federal funding for a
type of water distribution system that stores water runoff from
the surface in groundwater aquifers. Such systems are known as
conjunctive use projects. The Central Utah Project Completion
Act authorized the appropriation of $10 million for these
conjunctive use projects. To date, the Congress has
appropriated $2.5 million for a project in Salt Lake County.
Based on information from the East Juab Water Conservancy
District, CBO estimates that the federal share of a conjunctive
use project in that county would be $5 million.
H.R. 4013 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no costs on state, local, or tribal governments.
The bill would benefit Juab County by authorizing the county to
use surface and ground water as part of the Utah Division of
Water Resources Project.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Julie Middleton.
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
Compliance With Public Law 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
Preemption of State, Local or Tribal Law
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
Changes in Existing Law Made by the Bill, as Reported
In compliance with clause 3(e) of rule XIII of the Rules of
the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by
the bill, as reported, are shown as follows (new matter is
printed in italic and existing law in which no change is
proposed is shown in roman):
SECTION 202 OF THE RECLAMATION PROJECTS AUTHORIZATION AND ADJUSTMENT
ACT OF 1992
SEC. 202. BONNEVILLE UNIT WATER DEVELOPMENT.
(a) Of the amounts authorized to be appropriated in section
201, the following amounts shall be available only for the
following features of the Bonneville Unit of the Central Utah
Project:
(1) * * *
(2) Conjunctive use of surface and ground water.--
$10,000,000 for a feasibility study and development,
with public involvement, by the Utah Division of Water
Resources of systems to allow ground water recharge,
management, and the conjunctive use of surface water
resources with ground water resources in Salt Lake,
Utah, Davis, Juab, Wasatch, and Weber Counties, Utah.
* * * * * * *