Western Water Security Act of 2020

IB Union Calendar No. 558 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 4891 [Report No. 116–674, Part I] To provide for the conduct of certain water security measures in the Western United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 28, 2019 Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico (for herself, Mr. LUJA´N, Ms. HAALAND, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. HURD of Texas, and Ms. DEGETTE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Re- sources, and in addition to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech- nology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic- tion of the committee concerned DECEMBER 18, 2020 Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] DECEMBER 18, 2020 Committee on Science, Space, and Technology discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on October 28, 2019] VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4891 RH A BILL To provide for the conduct of certain water security measures in the Western United States, and for other purposes. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4891 RH Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Western Water Security Act of 2020’’. 5 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of this 6 Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 2. Definitions. TITLE I—INFRASTRUCTURE AND WATER MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT Sec. 101. Watersmart extension and expansion. Sec. 102. Emergency drought funding. Sec. 103. Rio Grande Pueblo Irrigation Infrastructure Reauthorization. TITLE II—GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT Sec. 201. Reauthorization and expansion of the Transboundary Aquifer Assess- ment Program. Sec. 202. Groundwater management assessment and improvement. Sec. 203. Surface and groundwater water availability and the energy nexus. TITLE III—WATER CONSERVATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION Sec. 301. Definitions. Sec. 302. Water acquisition program. Sec. 303. Middle Rio Grande Water Conservation. Sec. 304. Sustaining biodiversity during droughts. Sec. 305. Reauthorization of cooperative watershed management program. TITLE IV—EFFECT ON EXISTING LAW Sec. 401. Effect on existing law. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 8 In this Act: 9 (1) RIO GRANDE COMPACT.—The term ‘‘Rio 10 Grande Compact’’ means the compact approved by 11 Congress under the Act of May 31, 1939 (53 Stat. 12 785, chapter 155). 13 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4891 RH (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 1 the Secretary of the Interior. 2 (3) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the State 3 of New Mexico. 4 TITLE I—INFRASTRUCTURE AND 5 WATER MANAGEMENT IM- 6 PROVEMENT 7 SEC. 101. WATERSMART EXTENSION AND EXPANSION. 8 (a) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—Section 9 9502 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 10 (42 U.S.C. 10362) is amended— 11 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 12 striking ‘‘section’’ and inserting ‘‘subtitle’’; 13 (2) by striking paragraph (7) and inserting the 14 following: 15 ‘‘(7) ELIGIBLE APPLICANT.—The term ‘eligible 16 applicant’ means— 17 ‘‘(A) any State, Indian tribe, irrigation dis- 18 trict, or water district; 19 ‘‘(B) any State, regional, or local authority, 20 the members of which include one or more orga- 21 nizations with water or power delivery author- 22 ity; 23 ‘‘(C) any other organization with water or 24 power delivery authority; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4891 RH ‘‘(D) any nonprofit conservation organiza- 1 tion.’’; 2 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (13) through 3 (17) as paragraphs (14) through (18), respectively; 4 and 5 (4) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(13) NATURAL WATER RECHARGE INFRASTRUC- 8 TURE.—The term ‘natural water recharge infrastruc- 9 ture’ means a single project, a number of distributed 10 projects across a watershed, or the redesign and re- 11 placement, or removal, of built infrastructure to in- 12 corporate natural aquatic elements, in which the 13 project— 14 ‘‘(A) uses natural materials appropriate to 15 the specific site and landscape setting; 16 ‘‘(B) mimics natural riverine, floodplain, 17 riparian, wetland, hydrologic, or other ecological 18 processes; and 19 ‘‘(C) results in aquifer recharge, transient 20 floodplain water retention, or restoration of 21 water in the landscape such that the water re- 22 turns to a wetland, riparian area, or surface 23 water channel.’’. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4891 RH (b) RESEARCH AGREEMENTS.—Section 9504(b)(1) of 1 the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (42 2 U.S.C. 10364(b)(1)) is amended— 3 (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), 4 by inserting ‘‘nonprofit conservation organization,’’ 5 before ‘‘or organization’’; 6 (2) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the 7 end; 8 (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub- 9 paragraph (D); and 10 (4) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol- 11 lowing: 12 ‘‘(C) to increase natural water recharge in- 13 frastructure; or’’. 14 (c) WATER MANAGEMENT IMPROVEMENT.—Section 15 9504(e) of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 16 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10364(e)) is amended by striking 17 ‘‘$530,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$700,000,000, subject to the 18 condition that $50,000,000 of that amount shall be used to 19 carry out section 206 of the Energy and Water Development 20 and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2015 (43 U.S.C. 21 620 note; Public Law 113–235)’’. 22 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 4009(d) of 23 Public Law 114–322 (42 U.S.C. 10364 note) is amended 24 by striking ‘‘on the condition that of that amount, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4891 RH $50,000,000 of it is used to carry out section 206 of the 1 Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Ap- 2 propriation Act, 2015 (43 U.S.C. 620 note; Public Law 3 113–235)’’. 4 SEC. 102. EMERGENCY DROUGHT FUNDING. 5 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 6 301 of the Reclamation States Emergency Drought Relief 7 Act of 1991 (43 U.S.C. 2241) is amended— 8 (1) by striking ‘‘120,000,000’’ and inserting 9 ‘‘180,000,000’’; and 10 (2) by striking ‘‘2020’’ and inserting ‘‘2025, of 11 which not more than $30,000,000 shall be made avail- 12 able during that period for the conduct of actions au- 13 thorized under title I of the Reclamation States 14 Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 (43 U.S.C. 15 2211 et seq.) to benefit imperiled fish and wildlife’’. 16 (b) APPLICABLE PERIOD OF DROUGHT PROGRAM.— 17 Section 104 of the Reclamation States Emergency Drought 18 Relief Act of 1991 (43 U.S.C. 2214) is amended by striking 19 subsection (a) and inserting the following: 20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The programs and authorities es- 21 tablished under this title shall become operative in any Rec- 22 lamation State and in the State of Hawaii only— 23 ‘‘(1) after the Governor or Governors of the af- 24 fected State or States, or the governing body of an af- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4891 RH fected Indian Tribe with respect to a reservation, has 1 made a request for temporary drought assistance and 2 the Secretary has determined that the temporary as- 3 sistance is merited; 4 ‘‘(2) after a drought emergency has been declared 5 by the Governor or Governors of the affected State or 6 States; or 7 ‘‘(3) on approval of a drought contingency plan 8 as provided in title II.’’. 9 (c) REAUTHORIZATION.—Section 104(c) of the Rec- 10 lamation States Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 (43 11 U.S.C. 2214(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘2020’’ and insert- 12 ing ‘‘2030’’. 13 SEC. 103. RIO GRANDE PUEBLO IRRIGATION INFRASTRUC- 14 TURE REAUTHORIZATION. 15 Section 9106 of the Omnibus Public Land Manage- 16 ment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–11; 123 Stat. 1304) is 17 amended— 18 (1) in subsection (c)(4), by striking ‘‘2 years 19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 20 shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural 21 Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Re- 22 sources’’ and inserting ‘‘December 31, 2020, the Sec- 23 retary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4891 RH Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee 1 on Natural Resources’’; and 2 (2) in subsection (g)(2)— 3 (A) by striking ‘‘$6,000,000’’ and inserting 4 ‘‘such sums as may be necessary’’; and 5 (B) by striking ‘‘2010 through 2019’’ and 6 inserting ‘‘2020 through 2029’’. 7 TITLE II—GROUNDWATER 8 MANAGEMENT 9 SEC. 201. REAUTHORIZATION AND EXPANSION OF THE 10 TRANSBOUNDARY AQUIFER ASSESSMENT 11 PROGRAM. 12 (a) DESIGNATION OF PRIORITY TRANSBOUNDARY 13 AQUIFERS.—Section 4(c)(2) of the United States-Mexico 14 Transboundary Aquifer Assessment Act (42 U.S.C. 1962 15 note; Public Law 109–448) is amended by striking ‘‘New 16 Mexico or Texas’’ and inserting ‘‘New Mexico, Texas, or Ar- 17 izona (other than an aquifer underlying Arizona and So- 18 nora, Mexico, that is partially within the Yuma ground- 19 water basin designated by the order of the Director of the 20 Arizona Department of Water Resources dated June 21, 21 1984)’’. 22 (b) REAUTHORIZATION.— 23 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Sec- 24 tion 8(a) of the United States-Mexico Transboundary 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4891 RH Aquifer Assessment Act (42 U.S.C. 1962 note; Public 1 Law 109–448) is amended by striking ‘‘fiscal years 2 2007 through 2016’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal years 2021 3 through 2029’’. 4 (2) SUNSET OF AUTHORITY.—Section 9 of the 5 United States-Mexico Transboundary Aquifer Assess- 6 ment Act (42 U.S.C. 1962 note; Public Law 109–448) 7 is amended by striking ‘‘enactment of this Act’’ and 8 inserting ‘‘enactment of the Western Water Security 9 Act of 2020’’. 10 SEC. 202. GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT AND 11 IMPROVEMENT. 12 Section 9504(a) of the Omnibus Public Land Manage- 13 ment Act of 2009 (42 U.S.C. 10364(a)) is amended— 14 (1) in paragraph (1)— 15 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 16 (A), by inserting ‘‘or carrying out any activity’’ 17 after ‘‘any improvement’’; 18 (B) by striking subparagraphs (A) through 19 (E); 20 (C) by redesignating subparagraphs (F) 21 through (H) as subparagraphs (B) through (D), 22 respectively; 23 (D) by inserting before subparagraph (B) 24 (as so redesignated) the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 4891 RH ‘‘(A) to assist States and water users in 1 complying with interstate compacts through tem- 2 porary, voluntary, and compensated transactions 3 that decrease consumptive water use at a re- 4 gional or watershed scale;’’; 5 (E) in subparagraph (B) (as so redesig- 6 nated), by striking ‘‘to prevent’’ and inserting 7 ‘‘to achieve the prevention of’’; 8 (F) in subparagraph (C) (as so redesig- 9 nated), by striking ‘‘to accelerate’’ and inserting 10 ‘‘to achieve the acceleration of’’; and 11 (G) in subparagraph (D) (as so redesig- 12 nated)— 13 (i) by striking clause (i) and inserting 14 the following: 15 ‘‘(i) to increase ecological resilience to 16 climate change, including by enhancing 17 natural water recharge infrastructure with- 18 in a floodplain or riparian wetland, by ad- 19 dressing climate-related impacts or vulner- 20 ability to the water supply of the United 21 States;’’; 22 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking the pe- 23 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 4891 RH (iii) by adding at the end the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(iii) to plan for or address the im- 3 pacts of drought.’’; 4 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (2) and (3) as 5 paragraphs (3) and (4), respectively; 6 (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PROJECTS.—The improvements 9 or activities eligible for assistance under paragraph 10 (1) may include improvements or activities— 11 ‘‘(A) using an approach— 12 ‘‘(i) to conserve water; 13 ‘‘(ii) to increase water use efficiency; 14 ‘‘(iii) to facilitate water markets; or 15 ‘‘(iv) to enhance water management, 16 including increasing the use of renewable 17 energy in the management and delivery of 18 water or increasing natural water recharge 19 infrastructure; 20 ‘‘(B) to improve the condition of natural 21 water recharge infrastructure; or 22 ‘‘(C) to achieve the acceleration of the adop- 23 tion and use of advanced water treatment tech- 24 nologies to increase water supply.’’; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Dec 18, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H4891.RH H4891 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 4891 RH (4) in paragraph (4) (as so redesignated)— 1 (A) in subparagraph (B)(i), by striking 2 subclause (II) and inserting the following: 3 ‘‘(II) to use the assistance pro- 4 vided under a grant or agreement to 5 increase the consumptive use of water 6 for agricultural operations above the 7 pre-project levels, as determined pursu- 8 ant to the law of the State in which the 9 operation of the eligible applicant is 10 located.’’; and 11 (B) in subparagraph (E)— 12 (i) by striking clause (i) and inserting 13 the following: 14 ‘‘(i) FEDERAL SHARE.— 15 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro- 16 vided in subclause [Text truncated for display. 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