H.R. 4862 — Introduced in House

I 114th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 4862 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES March 23, 2016 Mr. DeSaulnier (for himself and Mr. McNerney) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To determine the feasibility of additional agreements for long-term use of existing or expanded non-Federal storage and conveyance facilities to augment Federal water supply, ecosystem, and operational flexibility benefits in certain areas, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Sustainable Water Supplies Act. 2. Pilot program In order to determine the feasibility of agreements for long-term use of existing or expanded non-Federal storage and conveyance facilities to augment Federal water supply, ecosystem, and operational flexibility benefits, not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall enter into cooperative agreements with non-Federal entities to provide replacement water supplies for drought relief for Central Valley Project contractors, units of the National Wildlife Refuge System, State wildlife areas, and private wetland areas. Agreements under this section shall— (1) include the purchase of storage capacity in non-Federal facilities from willing sellers; and (2) provide reimbursement for the temporary use of available capacity in existing above-ground, off-stream storage, and associated conveyance facilities owned by local water agencies. 3. Report Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior shall complete a report on the feasibility of the agreements described in section 2 for long-term use of existing or expanded non-Federal storage and conveyance facilities to augment Federal water supply, ecosystem, and operational flexibility benefits. The report shall be made available to the Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System and Central Valley Project contractors.