cured, or has satisfactory assurance of his ability to secure, all rights to the use of water which are necessary to carry out the purposes of the unit and the terms and conditions of this Act, and (2) received satisfactory assurance from the State of California that it will make provision for a master drainage out let and disposal channel for the San Joaquin Valley, as generally outlined in the California Water Plan, Bulletin Numbered 3, of the California Department of Water Resources, which will adequately serve, by connection therewith, the drainage system for the San Luis unit mentioned in section of this Act. SEC. 2. The Secretary is authorized, on behalf of the United States, to negotiate and enter into an agreement with the State of California (hereinafter referred to as the State) providing for coordinated operation and joint use of the facilities of the San Luis unit, in order that the State may, without cost to the United States, deliver water in service areas outside the San Luis service area as described in the report of the Department of the Interior, entitled "San Luis Unit, Central Valley Project" dated December 17, 1956, which agreement shall not become effective until approved by the State of California. The Seeretary shall not commence construction of the San Luis unit, except for the preparation of designs and specifications and other preliminary work, until the execution of such an agreement between the United States and the State, but if such an agreement has not been executed by [May 1, 1958] July 1, 1960, and if, after consultation with the Governor of the State, the Secretary deter mines that the prospects of reaching accord on the terms thereof are not reasonably firm, he may proceed to construct and operate the San Luis unit in accordance with section 1 of this Act: Provided, That if the Secretary so deter mines he shall report thereon to the Congress and shall not commence construction for ninety calendar days from the date of his report (which ninety days. however, shall not include days on which either the House of Representatives or the Senate is not in session because of an adjournment of more than three days to a day certain). In considering the prospects of reaching accord on the terms of the agreement the Secretary shall give substantial weight to any relevant affirmative action therefore taken by the State, including the enactment of State legislation authorizing the State to acquire and convey to the United States title to lands to be used for the San Luis unit or assistance given by it in financing Federal design and construction of the unit. The authority conferred upon the Secretary by the first sentence of this section shall not, except as is otherwise provided in this section, be construed as a limitation upon the exercise by him of the authority conferred in section 1 of this Act, but if the State shall make available to the Secretary sufficient funds to pay an appropriate share of the construction cost of any facilities so designed and constructed as to permit enlargement, it shall have an irrevocable right to enlarge or modify such facilities at any time in the future, and a perpetual right to the use of such additional capacity: Provided, That the performance of such work by the State shall be so carried on as not to interfere with the operation of the project for the purposes set forth in section 1 of this Act: And provided further, That this right may be relinquished by the State at any time at its option. SEC. 3. The agreement between the United States and the State referred to in section 2 of this Act shall provide, among other things, that— (a) the project works and features to be constructed by the Secretary shall be so designed and constructed to such capacities and in such manner as to permit [either] (i) immediate integration and coordinated operation with the State's water projects [or] and (ii) such subsequent enlargement or other modification as may be requested for integration and coordinated operation therewith: (b) the State shall make available to the Secretary during the construetion period sufficient funds to pay an appropriate share of the construction costs of any facilities designed and constructed as provided in paragraph (a) above. The State contribution shall be made in annual installments, each of which bears approximately the same ratio to total expenditures during that year as the total of the State's share bears to the total cost of the facilities; the State may make advances to the United States in order to maintain a timely construction schedule of the joint use facilities and the works of the San Luis unit to be used by the State and the United States; (c) the State may at any time after approval of its plans by the Secre tary and at its own expense enlarge or modify San Luis Dam and Reservoir { and other facilities to be used jointly by the State and the United States (which dam, reservoir and other facilities are hereinafter referred to as joint use facilities), but the performance of such work shall be so carried on as not to interfere with the operation of the San Luis unit for the purposes set forth in section 1 of this Act; (d) the State shall the United States and the State shall each pay annually an appropriate service charge in connection with, and/or an appropriate share of the operation, maintenance and replacement costs of, those features of the San Luis unit which are used or designed to be used jointly by the United States and the State and any other features of the Central Valley project which are of service to the State the joint use facilities; (e) upon completion of repayment of those portions of the reimbursable Federal costs of constructing the Central Valley project which are assignable to the San Luis unit and the joint use facilities, title to the facilities of the San Luis unit said unit and facilities shall, upon request of the State, and approval of the Congress, be conveyed to the State. Upon such conveyance, the State shall assume the obligation and responsibility of providing water service to the users of San Luis unit service area; (f) promptly after execution of this agreement between the Secretary and the State, and for the purpose of said agreement, the State shall convey to the United States title to any lands, easements, and rights-of-way which it then owns and which are required for facilities of the San Luis unit to be used jointly by the United States and the State the joint use facilities. The State shall be given credit for the costs of these lands. easements, and rights-of-way toward its share of the construction cost of the San Luis unit joint use facilities. The State shall likewise be given credit for any funds advanced by it to the Secretary for preparation of designs and specifications or for any other work in connection with the San Luis unit and the joint use facilities; (g) the United States shall have unrestricted use of such capacities in the works of the San Luis unit which are used jointly by the United States and the State as shall be required to carry out the purposes of section 1 of this Act. Such unrestricted use shall extend throughout the repayment period and so long thereafter as title to the works remains in the United States; (h) the State shall have unrestricted use of the remainder of the capacity of San Luis Reservoir and of other jointly used facilities for water service outside the San Luis unit service area solely under the jurisdiction of the State; (i) the Secretary may turn over to the State the care, operation, and maintenance of any works of the San Luis unit which are used jointly by the United States and the State at such time and under such conditions as shall be agreed upon by the Secretary and the State; (j) notwithstanding transfer of title or of the care, operation, and maintenance of any works to the State, as hereinbefore provided, any organization which has theretofore entered into a contract with the United States under the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 for a water supply through the works of the San Luis unit and joint use facilities shall continue to have and to enjoy the same rights which it would have had under its contract with the United States and the provisions of paragraph (4) of section 1 of the Act of July 2, 1956 (70 Stat. 483, 43 U. S. C. 485h-1) in the absence of such transfer, and its enjoyment of such rights shall be without added cost or other any detriment arising from such transfer; (k) if a nonreimbursable allocation to the preservation and propagation of fish and wildlife has been made as provided in section 2 of the Act of August 14, 1946 (60 Stat. 1080, 16 U. S. C. 662), the features of the unit to which such allocation is attributable shall, notwithstanding transfer of title or of the care, operation, and maintenance to the State, be operated and maintained in such wise as to retain the bases upon which such allocation is premised and, upon failure so to operate and maintain those features, the amount allocated thereto shall become a reimbursable cost to be paid by the State. SEC. 4. In constructing, operating, and maintaining a drainage system for he San Luis unit, the Secretary is authorized to permit the use thereof by ther parties under contracts conforming generally to the provisions of the Federal reclamation laws with respect to irrigation repayment or service ontracts and is further authorized to enter into agreements and participate in onstruction and operation of drainage facilities designed to serve the general 25922-58-2 area of which the lands to be served by the San Luis unit are a part, to the extent the works authorized in section 1 of this Act contribute to drainage requirements of said area. The Secretary is also authorized to permit the use of the irrigation facilities of the San Luis unit, including its facilities for supplying pumping energy, under contracts entered into pursuant to section 1 of the Act of February 21, 1911 (36 Stat. 925, 43 U. S. C. 523). Sec. 5. The Secretary is hereby authorized and directed to conduct the necessary studies and render a report to the Congress on the feasibility of a plan to provide Central Valley project services, by way of the Pacheco Tunnei route, to lands and municipalities in Santa Clara, San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Monterey Counties: Provided, That such studies shall be conducted only under a contract with the Santa Clara-Alameda-San Benito Water Authority pursuant to which the said authority will pay 50 per centum of the cost thereof: And provided further, That in conducting the studies authorized herein, the Secretary shall give due consideration to the studies and plans of the Californis Department of Water Resources and of the Santa Clara-Alameda-San Benito Water Authority. SEC. [5] 6. The Secretary is authorized, in connection with the San Luis unit, to construct minimum basic public recreational facilities and to arrange for the operation and maintenance of the same by the State or an appropriate local agency or organization. The cost of such facilities shall be nonreturnable and nonreimbursable under the Federal reclamation laws. SEC. 7. The provisions of the Federal reclamation laws shall not be applicable to water deliveries or to the use of drainage facilities serving lands under contract with the State to receive a water supply, outside of the San Luis service area described in the report of the Department of the Interior, entitled “San Luis Unit, Central Valley Project", dated December 17, 1956. SEO. [6] 8. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for construction of the works of the San Luis unit authorized by this Act, other than distribution systems and drains, the sum of plus such additional amount, if any, as may be required by reason of changes in costs of construction of the types involved in the San Luis unit as shown by engineering indices. There are also authorized to be appropriated, in addition thereto, such amounts as are required (a) for construction of such distribution systems and drains as are not constructed by local interests, and (b) for operation and mainte nance of the unit. Hon. CLINTON P. ANDERSON, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Chairman, Subcommittee on Irrigation and Reclamation, DEAR SENATOR ANDERSON: I appreciate your forwarding to me a copy of committee print of S. 1887 which would authorize the San Luis project in California. You state in your accompanying letter that this version is for study and comment and is not regarded as a final version nor does it represent any action by the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee or the subcommittee on the merits of the bill. I note that there have been several substantive changes in the original Knowland-Kuchel proposal. At the present time I have not had an opportunity to submit these to my constituents for comment and do not know whether or not they would be acceptable to this group who are opposed to the original provisions of the Knowland-Kuchel bills. I will endeavor to secure such reaction immediately. My personal immediate reaction is that no proposal should be seriously considered which does not meet the acceptance of all persons who spoke before your committee in opposition to or on behalf of the San Luis project. The water situation is so confused in California that no Federal action is indicated until local agreement is reached. I note that one of the amendments to S. 1887 contemplates negotiation until July 1, 1960, but with the further proviso that thereafter the United States could proceed with construction after a submission of a report to the Congress and a 90-day hiatus of time. It would be my judgment that any authorization of the San Luis project which was not based on local agreement would be an idle act even with the proviso referred to-aside from considerations of the wisdom of such proviso-because the water rights involved are governed by State law and further in this instance a portion of the reservoir site is already owned by the State and the balance is in the course of acquisition. I would seriously doubt that any unilateral authority given the Federal Government could be exercised as a practical matter without the complete cooperation of the State and this means all substantial elements in the State and in this sense passage of an authorization statute without such agreement would be an idle act productive only of greater animosities. I would, therefore, respectfully suggest that no action be taken by your committee until such time as complete comment is had from all persons who appeared before your committee and possibly further hearings are had with opportunities given such persons to appear. I would personally greatly appreciate advance notice of any pending action on this proposal. Sincerely yours, HARLAN HAGEN, Member of Congress. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D. C., May 21, 1958. Hon. JAMES E. MURRAY, Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, DEAR SENATOR MURRAY: This responds to the request from Senator Anderson for the views of this Department on the proposed amendments contained in the committee print dated May 1, 1958, of S. 1887, the San Luis unit, Central Valley project, authorization bill. For the most part, we would not be inclined to object to the proposed amendments. However, we do believe that the proposed amendments to sections 1 and 3 (a), if adopted, could result in some confusion. We offer the following specific comments on the proposed amendments: 1. If the word "may" is changed to "shall", in line 6, page 2, section 1 would require the Secretary to construct the engineering features of the unit in a manner which would permit future expansion. Since section 2 would permit construction of the unit by the Secretary in the absence of an agreement, this proposed change could result in the Department's having to undertake a more expensive type of construction with no firm commitment by the State to assume the additional costs involved in accommodating project structures to meet the State's future requirements. 2. The proposed revision in lines 16 through 25 on page 2 and lines 1 through 7 on page 3 adds a requirement to section 1 that the State must give satisfactory assurance it will make provision for a master drainage outlet and disposal channel for the San Joaquin Valley before construction of the unit can be initiated. There is general agreement on the desirability of a State constructed and operated master drainage system. Our planning report makes provision for an independent drainage system to serve the unit in the event it should be necessary. If the proposed amendment is adopted, it would be possible for the State to prevent this Department from proceeding with the construction of the unit by refusing to give the assurances required under the proposal. In this event, it could effectively nullify the apparent intention of the provisions of section 2, as it would be amended, after July 1, 1960, construction may proceed with or without an agreement between the United States and the State of California. 3. We are unaware of the reason for the proposed language appearing in lines 17 and 18 on page 3, since it has always been our understanding that any agreement with the State would be approved by, and pursuant to, appropriate State authority. If the proposed language is intended to require approval by the State's legislature, it might be well to expressly so state. 4. We favor the change in date proposed in line 23 on page 3. 5. We have no objection to the requirement of reporting to the Congress and withholding initiation of construction for a period of 90 days after making such a report, as proposed in lines 3 to 9 on page 4. 6. We have no objection to the proposed provision contained in lines 21 to 25 on page 4 and lines 1 to 6 on page 5. However, we believe there should be an additional requirement that the State's plans for enlargement and construction should be submitted to the Secretary for approval to assure that the Federal structures will not be adversely affected thereby. 7. We believe that the proposed amendment to section 3 (a) is undesirable. It would require that the joint use features of the San Luis unit not only shall be constructed by the Secretary is a manner which will permit subsequent enlargement and modification, but also that they be constructed to such capacities as would permit immediate integration and coordinated operation with the State's projects. It is possible that, at the time the joint use features are constructed, there may be no need or opportunity for immediate integration and operation with the State's water project, and that only the capacities to serve the Federal project will, in fact, be needed. Thus it is possible the proposal might require the construction of the joint use features to include capacities not then needed or desired by the State. 8. The proposed amendments to subsections (b) through (f) of sec tion 3 appear to be for purposes of clarification, and we have no ob jection to them. 9. We would not object to making the investigation proposed in new section 5 if the Congress were to so direct. However, we understand that the area concerned is covered by the State water plan and that the State has an intensive investigation program underway. In these circumstances, we would hesitate to overlap or duplicate States studies unless, as stated above, we were specifically directed by the Congress to do so. 10. We have no objection to the new section 7. |