Sec. 101. Assistance for drought-stricken communities and WaterSMART reauthorization
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Congress finds that— across the United States, more than 90 percent of the community water systems serve populations of less than 10,000 individuals; the number of dry wells continues to increase as the State of California entered the fourth consecutive summer of drought, with approximately 2,591 wells statewide identified as critical or dry, which affected an estimated 12,955 residents, with 2,444 of the 2,502 of the dry wells concentrated in the inland regions within the Central Valley; many areas of the State of California are disproportionately impacted by drought because the areas are heavily dependent or completely reliant on groundwater from basins that are in overdraft and in which the water table declines year after year or from basins that are contaminated; and those communities throughout the State of California have been impacted by the presence of naturally occurring arsenic in the groundwater among other contaminants, as a result of higher concentration of contaminants in the water.
Section 9504 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 ( 42 U.S.C. 10364 ) is amended— by redesignating subsections
(b)through
(e)as subsections
(d)through (f), respectively; by inserting after subsection
(b)the following: The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to enter into cost shared financial assistance and other long-term agreements with non-Federal participants to advance the planning, design, and construction of non-Federal permanent water storage and conveyance facilities, projects for the reclamation and reuse of municipal, industrial, domestic and agricultural wastewater, and naturally impaired ground and surface waters, groundwater recharge, and other water management improvement projects for which the Secretary of the Interior is authorized under this subtitle to assist an applicant in the planning, design, and construction. The Secretary of the Interior may provide financial assistance under this subtitle to carry out projects within— any Reclamation State, including— Arizona; California; Colorado; Idaho; Kansas; Montana; Nebraska; Nevada; New Mexico; North Dakota; Oklahoma; Oregon; South Dakota; Texas; Utah; Washington; and Wyoming; and the States of Alaska and Hawaii. In providing financial assistance under this section, the Secretary of the Interior shall give priority to storage, conveyance, and water management improvement projects that— ensure the efficient and beneficial use of water or reuse of recycled water; use integrated and coordinated water management on a watershed or regional scale; increase the availability of usable water supplies in a watershed or region to benefit individuals, the economy, and the environment and include adaptive measures needed to address climate change and future demands; where practicable, provide flood control or recreation benefits and include the development of incremental hydroelectric power generation; and generate environmental benefits, such as benefits to fisheries, wildlife and habitat, water quality, water-dependent ecological systems, and water supply benefits to agricultural and urban water users. The Federal share of the cost of a project under this subsection shall be— an amount equal to the lesser of— 25 percent of total costs; and $20,000,000 (adjusted for inflation); and nonreimbursable. The non-Federal share of the cost of a project under this subsection may include in-kind contributions to the planning, design, and construction of the project. The non-Federal entity entering into a financial assistance agreement under this subsection shall— hold title in and to all facilities constructed under this subsection; and be solely responsible for the costs of operating and maintaining those facilities. ; and in subsection
(f)(as redesignated by paragraph (1)), by striking $350,000,000 and inserting $500,000,000 . Section 9508 of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 ( 42 U.S.C. 10368 ) is amended— by redesignating subsections
(b)through
(e)as subsections
(c)through (f), respectively; and by inserting after subsection
(a)the following: To assist disadvantaged communities that have experienced a significant decline in quantity or quality of drinking water, and to obtain or maintain adequate quantities of water that meet the standards set by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act ( 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq. ), the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to provide grants for communities— that are unable to meet the primary water quality standards under that Act; or the local private or public water supply of which has been lost or severely diminished due to drought conditions. To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, a community shall carry out a project described in paragraph (3), the service area of which— shall not be located in any city or town with a population of more than 60,000 residents; and has a median household income of less than 100 percent of the nonmetropolitan median household income of the State. Projects eligible for this program may be used for— emergency water supplies; point of use treatment and point of entry systems; distributed treatment facilities; construction of new water source facilities including wells and connections to existing systems; water distribution facilities; connection fees to existing systems; assistance to households to connect to water facilities; and any combination of activities described in subparagraphs
(A)through (G). In determining priorities for funding projects, the Secretary of the Interior shall take into consideration— where water outages— are most serious; and pose the greatest threat to public health and safety; and whether the applicant has the ability to qualify for alternative funding sources. The amount of a grant provided under this section may be made up to 100 percent of costs, including— initial operation costs incurred for start-up and testing of project facilities; components to ensure such facilities and components are properly operational; and costs of operation or maintenance incurred subsequent to placing the facilities or components into service. .
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Sec. 101
Assistance for drought-stricken communities and WaterSMART reauthorization
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