[Senate Report 109-168]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 269
109th Congress Report
SENATE
1st Session 109-168
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PACTOLA RESERVOIR REALLOCATION AUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005
_______
October 27, 2005.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 819]
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which
was referred the bill (S. 819) to authorize the Secretary of
the Interior to reallocate costs of the Pactola Dam and
Reservoir, South Dakota, to reflect increased demands for
municipal, industrial, and fish and wildlife purposes, having
considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment
and recommend that the bill do pass.
PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE
The purpose of S. 819 is to authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to reallocate costs of the Pactola Dam and Reservoir,
South Dakota, to reflect increased demands for municipal,
industrial, and fish and wildlife purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED
The Pactola Dam and Reservoir is part of the Rapid Valley
Unit under the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program. It was
authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1944 (P.L. 78-534) to
provide supplemental municipal water for Rapid City, South
Dakota and supplemental irrigation water for the Rapid Valley
Conservancy District (District). Other authorized purposes
include fish and wildlife management and flood control. The
Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau or
Reclamation) is responsible for the operation and maintenance
of the Pactola Dam and Reservoir.
The 40-year term Pactola Reservoir water purchase contract
between the United States and Rapid City for municipal and
industrial water supply expired in October 1992. A second long-
term Pactola Reservoir water purchase contract between the
United States and the District for irrigation water supply
expired in January 2001.
In 1992, the Bureau began discussions with Rapid City and
the District to renegotiate the water supply contracts in order
to meet municipal, industrial, irrigation, recreation,
wildlife, fisheries, and instream flow needs. Instead of
contracting with the Federal Government for water from Pactola
Reservoir, the District opted to execute a separate subcontract
with Rapid City to provide a supplemental water supply when
needed. Reclamation has negotiated a new long-term contract
with Rapid City. The new contract provides the city with a
49,000 acre-feet water storage right in Pactola Reservoir.
Under the contract, the Bureau retains 6,000 acre-feet of
storage to be used for other authorized uses such as fish and
wildlife purposes.
An Environmental Assessment for the Pactola Reservoir Water
Service Contract Renewal has been completed and a Finding of No
Significant Impact was signed on October 20, 2000.
Congressional authority is needed to reallocate these contracts
costs from irrigation purposes to municipal, industrial, and
fish and wildlife purposes. Once Congress grants authority to
reallocate these costs, the Bureau can execute the negotiated
contract with Rapid City.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
S. 819 was introduced by Senator Johnson on April 15, 2005,
and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
The Water and Power Subcommittee held a hearing on S. 819 on
July 12, 2005. At the business meeting on September 28, 2005,
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 819
favorably reported without amendment.
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in open
business session on September 28, 2005, by unanimous vote of a
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 819.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
Section 1 sets forth the short title.
Section 2 sets forth congressional findings that it is
appropriate to reallocate costs of the Pactola Dam and
Reservoir to reflect increased demands for municipal,
industrial, and fish and wildlife purposes and that such a cost
reallocation needs Congressional approval.
Section 3 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to
reallocate the construction costs of Pactola Dam and Reservoir,
Rapid Valley Unit, Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program, South
Dakota, from irrigation purposes to municipal, industrial, and
fish and wildlife purposes.
COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS
The following estimate of costs of this measure has been
provided by the Congressional Budget Office.
CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE COST ESTIMATE
S. 819--Pactola Reservoir Reallocation Authorization Act of 2005
S. 819 would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to
reallocate the construction costs of Pactola Dam and Reservoir
from irrigation purposes to municipal and industrial and fish
and wildlife purposes. This would allow the bureau to provide
water to Rapid City, South Dakota, under a new contract that
would replace expired contracts for supplemental irrigation and
municipal and industrial water. CBO estimates that enacting S.
819 would not have a significant effect on the federal budget.
Enacting this legislation would allow the bureau to enter
into a new water service contract that would generate a small
increase in receipts over existing interim contracts. Based on
information from the bureau, CBO estimates that increase in
contract payments would be about $100,000 annually. Such
payments are recorded in the budget as offsetting receipts (a
credit against direct spending).
S. 819 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and
would impose no cost on state, local, or tribal governments.
Enacting this bill would benefit the Rapid Valley Irrigation
District by reallocating the construction costs of Pactola Dam
and Reservoir from irrigation purposes to municipal,
industrial, and fish and wildlife purposes.
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Mike Waters.
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.
REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION
In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in
carrying out S. 819.
The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of
imposing Government-established standards or significant
economic responsibilities on private individuals and
businesses.
No personal information would be collected in administering
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal
privacy.
Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the
enactment of S. 819, as ordered reported.
EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The testimony provided by the Department of the Interior at
the Subcommittee hearing on S. 819 follows:
Statement of John W. Keys, III, Commissioner, U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation, Department of the Interior
My name is John Keys. As Commissioner of the Bureau of
Reclamation, I am pleased to appear today in support of S. 819,
the Pactola Reservoir Reallocation Authorization Act of 2005.
Mr. Chairman, S. 819 would authorize the Secretary of the
Interior to reallocate construction costs of Pactola Dam and
Reservoir, Rapid Valley Unit, and the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin
Program, South Dakota, to municipal, industrial, and fish and
wildlife purposes. This reallocation reflects the increasing
water demands from Pactola Reservoir for municipal and
industrial purposes, specifically within Rapid City and
throughout the surrounding areas, and for fish and wildlife
purposes in and along Rapid Creek.
background
Rapid Valley Unit is served, in part, by the Pactola
Reservoir. Located on Rapid Creek in the Black Hills of South
Dakota approximately 15 miles west of Rapid City, Pactola was
constructed between 1952 and 1956. The Rapid Valley Irrigation
District (District) consists of 8,900 acres of privately
developed land and associated irrigation diversion and supply
works. The irrigable land is situated along Rapid Creek
immediately downstream of the City. Pactola Reservoir
supplemented the Districts' 8,000 acre-foot water supply from
Deerfield Dam. The Rapid Valley Unit provides a full water
supply for Rapid City (including Ellsworth Air Force Base),
flood protection, recreation, and fish and wildlife.
On October 20, 1952, the City entered into a 40-year water
service contract for municipal and industrial water supply from
Pactola Reservoir. Since the contract's expiration in 1992,
annual water service contracts have been issued to provide
water to the City until a replacement contract can be executed.
The District also executed a 40-year water service contract
with the U.S. on January 6, 1961, for a supplemental irrigation
water supply from Pactola Reservoir. This contract expired in
2001 and the District decided to not renew it. The District
will rely on its natural flow rights, return flows from the
City's water treatment plant, water purchased from the City,
and water from the Deerfield Dam and Reservoir.
Reclamation has negotiated a new repayment contract with
Rapid City. However, the McGovern Amendment to the Department
of Energy Organization Act prohibits Reclamation from
reallocating multipurpose construction costs without specific
Congressional approval. Therefore, execution of the negotiated
contract is contingent on authority from Congress to reallocate
the construction costs of Pactola Dam and Reservoir currently
allocated to irrigation purposes to municipal, industrial, and
fish and wildlife purposes.
conclusion
Passage of this Act will provide Reclamation with authority
to enter into a new long-term contract with Rapid City to
provide a water storage right of 49,000 acre-feet in Pactola
Reservoir. This contract will secure a reliable water supply
for the city and the surrounding area to support expected
growth well into the future. Reclamation will retain 6,000 acre
feet of storage in the reservoir to be used for fish and
wildlife, and other authorized beneficial purposes.
I am pleased to answer any questions.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 819, as ordered
reported.