CONGRESS / FACING DROUGHT : Easing of Federal Water Rules May Aid West--but Not Soon

With California facing a fifth year of drought starting in October, some help may be forthcoming from Congress. These are the areas in which legislation is expected to be passed before the congressional session ends this fall:

WATER FACILITIES: The House in June overwhelmingly passed a bill that would allow local use of federal water facilities for municipal, industrial, domestic and wildlife purposes. The legislation is an amendment to the Warren Act of 1911, which says that a state is allowed to transport water over federal aqueducts only if the water is destined for agricultural use.

Supporters say the bill has potential impact for all 17 Western states. In California alone--where coastal areas now face projected shortages of 50% or more in their water supplies--the amendment would open up about 30 federal reservoirs and more than 5,000 miles of federal canals and other water conveyance systems.

To benefit from this proposal, local water organizations must have their own water supplies before they can use the federal facilities, said California Bureau of Reclamation spokesman John Budd. “Once they obtain a water supply, then they can move it through our facilities,” Budd said.

In the Senate, a similar bill is in committee and is likely to be passed.

“Existing federal water facilities are currently under-used and under-worked,” said Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.), who is sponsoring the Senate bill.

RECLAIMED WATER: A bill that directs Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan Jr. to study opportunities for reclaiming and recycling agricultural, municipal, industrial and other waste water from water supplied by Bureau of Reclamation facilities was introduced in June by Rep. Ron Packard (R-Carlsbad). The proposal is still in committee.

Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N. J.) has drafted a bill that sets similar goals. Bradley is the ranking member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which the bill has been referred. Hearings will probably be held this month..

OTHER LEGISLATION: A bill introduced in both the Senate and the House would, in effect, negate a Supreme Court ruling that the federal government has the right to impose conditions or restrictions on states’ uses of dams.

The case, California vs. FERC, pitted the state of California against the Federal Energy Resource Commission. The court ruled that the commission has the exclusive power under federal law to set standards for hydroelectric projects. In effect, the commission--and not the state of California--has been allowed to control the water that flows through its licensed dams. Every other state supported California in its argument against the commission.

“The states tend to be the most knowledgeable, the most sensitive to the resources at stake, and they have a major role to play” in protecting fish and wildlife, said John Echeverria, general counsel of American Rivers, which led half a dozen environmental groups in backing California’s position.

Congressional hearings on the dam use legislation have been planned for this month.

Other federal drought-related legislation would extend from 1990 to 1992 the period during which the secretary of the Interior may conduct studies designed to find better ways to conserve federal water supplies.

The bill would authorize increasing, to $100 million from $25 million, the amount of money available for states to build temporary water facilities, to buy water from other sources and use for other purposes. A bill has been introduced in both the House and the Senate, but no action has been taken.

OUTLOOK: Even if legislation is passed, said Kathy Lacey, legislative assistant to Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.), it will be a long time before it helps California solve its problems.

“There is very little that Congress can do that would provide immediate relief,” Lacey said.