of the Santa Clara-San Benito-Alameda unit as an integral part of the Central Valley project. The authority contained in this section shall not be held to be a limitation on the exercise by the Secretary of the authority conferred on him by sections 1 and 2 of this Act.

SEC. 5. In constructing, operating, and maintaining a drainage system for the San Luis unit, the Secretary is authorized to permit the use thereof by other parties under contracts conforming generally to the provisions of the Federal reclamation laws with respect to irrigation repayment or service contracts and is further authorized to enter into agreements and participate in construction and operation of drainage facilities designed to serve the general 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. 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. 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 maintenance of the unit.

[H. R. 2452, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To provide for Federal cooperation with the State of California in the construction of the San Luis unit of the Feather River project, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate an agreement therefor, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, in order to encourage non-Federal initiative and assumption of responsibility for construction, operation, and maintenance of the San Luis unit as an integral part of the Feather River project of the State of California (hereinafter referred to as the "State"), the Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretary") is authorized and directed to conduct joint studies with the State, to establish specific details of and to negotiate an agreement with the States to carry out the objectives of this Act, and to report the negotiated agreement to the Congress on or before July 1, 1957. Upon approval of such agreement by the Congress, the Secretary is authorized to execute it on behalf of the United States and thereafter to carry out the obligations of the United States thereunder as expeditiously as possible. The principal purposes of the San Luis unit shall be that of furnishing water for irrigation of a gross area of approximately four hundred and ninety-six thousand acres of land in Merced, Fresno, and Kings Counties, California, but not in excess of four hundred and forty thousand acres thereof in any one year, and that of furnishing water storage facilities for the State's Feather River project, and as incidents thereto furnishing water for municipal and domestic use and providing recreational, flood control, fish and wildlife benefits.

SEC. 2. The agreement negotiated between the United States and the State shall provide, among other things, that—

(a) the San Luis unit shall be designed, constructed, and operated, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, as an integral part of the State's Feather River project;

(b) the principal engineering features of said unit shall be a dam and reservoir at or near the San Luis site designed for an ultimate capacity of approximately two million one hundred thousand acre-feet, a forebay and afterbay, a canal leading south from the reservoir with a capacity of approximately nine thousand cubic feet per second, and such other project works and features, including minimum basic recreational features, as may

be agreed upon. Construction of said dam and reservoir with an initial capacity of approximately one million acre-feet may be agreed upon; (c) the project works and features agreed upon to be constructed shall generally conform to the report of the Department of the Interior entitled "San Luis unit, Central Valley project, California", dated August 4, 1955, modified as required for integration and coordinated operation with other features of the State's Feather River project as generally outlined in the "Views and Recommendations of the State of California on Proposed Report of the Department of Interior on San Luis Project, Central Valley Project, California" dated March 1956, or as may otherwise be agred upon by the Secretary and the State;

(d) the State shall acquire and pay for all lands, easements, and rightsof-way for the San Luis unit as expeditiously as possible and shall, if construction is undertaken by the United States, as provided in paragraph (i) of this section, make the same available to the United States for that purpose and save the United States harmless from any and all claims arising out of its use and occupancy thereof;

(e) the State shall have the use of Central Valley project power facilities to the extent to which those facilities would have been associated with the San Luis unit if it were constructed and operated by the Federal Government as a unit of the Central Valley project; shall repay the cost thereof on an interest-free basis in forty equal annual installments, or sooner at the State's option; and shall be entitled to purchase available Central Valley project electrical energy, as a preference customer, for Feather River project pumping requirements related to the San Luis unit at a reasonable pumping rate; (f) that the State shall guarantee to deliver water to the same service areas, in the same quantities, for the same periods, and at the same prices as proposed in the Department of Interior report referred to in subsection (c) of this section. The contracts between the State and local agencies to carry out this undertaking shall comply substantially with the Federal reclamation laws so long as any part of the construction cost of the project remains unpaid. All amounts of water made available by the project in excess of those needed to serve the aforesaid requirements may be disposed of by the State in accordance with State laws and without reference to the Federal reclamation laws. The Secretary may enter into contracts with local agencies within the service area of the project for the financing or construction and repayment of local irrigation distribution systems in accordance with the Federal reclamation laws;

(g) such services of the Bureau of Reclamation and other Federal agencies in the planning, designing, engineering, and construction of the unit as the State may desire and as are consistent with the carrying out of other duties of those agencies shall be provided at cost;

(h) loans and grants by the United States shall, upon request, be made to the State by the Secretary from funds appropriated by the Congress and available for carrying out the purposes of this Act. Said loans and grants shall not exceed in the aggregate $230,000,000, and may be made before, as, or after the State has incurred or paid its construction costs by interim or other financing, as a credit against same. The Secretary shall estimate the cost of the San Luis unit if constructed and operated by the Federal Government as a unit of the Central Valley project and shall allocate said costs among the functions of the unit in accordance with said Federal reclamation laws. The State shall receive as a grant an amount equal to those estimated costs which the Secretary allocates to nonreimbursable functions. The State shall receive as an interest-free loan an amount equal to those estimated costs which the Secretary allocates to irrigation. The State, at its option, may receive as an interest-bearing loan an amount or amounts not exceeding those costs, if any, which the Secretary allocates to domestic, municipal, and industrial water supply and to commercial power, the interest rate to be equal to that which the United States is paying on its long-term loans outstanding on the date of this Act as certified by the Secretary of the Treasury. The State shall repay said loans in forty equal annual installments, or sooner at its option. Such repayment shall commence not later than the year following that in which operation of the unit commences;

(i) should the State fail to commence construction of the San Luis unit expeditiously, unless such failure be attributable to action or nonaction by the United States, or if by joint resolution the State legislature so requests,

the Secretary shall construct the San Luis unit as a part of the State's Feather River project to be operated and maintained by the State, both prior to (insofar as such operation is compatible with construction activities) and subsequent to completion as an integral part of the State's Feather River project, the State shall repay to the United States in forty equal annual installments, or sooner at the State's option, the reimbursable cost of constructing the unit which are incurred by the United States, including any increased costs incurred because of the modifications specified in subsection (c) of this section, such repayment to commence not later than in the year following that in which the operation of the unit commences. Allocations of costs shall be made in the manner specified in subsection (h) of this section. Costs allocated to irrigation shall be repaid without interest and costs allocated to flood control shall be nonreimbursable. Upon completion of such repayment, the Secretary is directed under authority of this act to convey title to all unit works to the State;

(j) the United States and the State, either upon petition of the other, shall submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the District Court of the United States, Southern District, Northern Division of California, for the determination of any controversy between the State and the United States arising out of said negotiated agreement in the manner provided by law for declaratory judgments, and the provisions of any such judgment or judgments shall be binding upon the State and the United States; and

(k) all obligations of the United States under the contract shall be contingent upon the making of appropriations therefor.

SEC. 3. The Secretary is authorized to enter into such modifications, amendments, and supplements, to the negotiated agreement, as from time to time are necessary or desirable to carry out and implement the intent of this Act.

SEC. 4. The District Court of the Unitde States, Southern District, Northern Division of California, shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine in the manner of declaratory judgments any justiciable controversy between the United States and the State arising out of said negotiated agreement, and shall conduct its hearings and render its judgments thereunto pertaining with all deliberate speed.

SEC. 5. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of this Act the sum of $230,000,000, plus such additional amount, if any, in the event of the construction of the San Luis unit by the Secretary, 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 indexes or by reason of modifications in the plan set forth in the Department's report thereon which are made in order to carry out this Act.

[H. R. 9969, 85th Cong., 2d sess.]

A BILL To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct the San Luis unit of the Central Valley project, California, to enter into an agreement with the State of California with respect to the financing, construction, and operation of such unit, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That, for the principal purpose of furnishing water for the irrigation of approximately five hundred thousand acres of land in Merced, Fresno, and Kings Counties, California, and as incidents thereto of furnishing water for municipal and domestic use and providing recreational and fish and wildlife benefits, the Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the Secretary) is authorized to construct, operate, and maintain the San Luis unit, hereinafter described as an integral part of the Central Valley project In constructing, operating, and maintaining the San Luis unit, the Secretary shall be governed by the Federal reclamation laws (Act of June 17, 1902, 32 Stat. 388, and Acts amendatory thereof or supplementary thereto) except so far as the provisions thereof are inconsistent with this Act. Construction of said works shall not be commenced until the Secretary has secured, or has satisfactory assurance of his ability to secure, all rights to the use of water which are necessary to carry out said purposes and the terms and conditions of this Act.

SEC. 2. The principal engineering features of the San Luis unit shall generally conform to those described in the report of the Department of the Interior entitled "San Luis unit, Central Valley project, California", dated December 17, 1956, with exceptions set forth in this section or as may otherwise be agreed upon

by the Secretary and the State of California (hereinafter referred to as the State). The Secretary is authorized to construct, operate, and maintain, as the San Luis unit, those engineering features which will provide a water supply to the San Luis unit service area described in said report of December 17, 1956, except the following engineering features which will be constructed, operated, and maintained as features of the Feather River project by the State: the San Luis Dam, reservoir, forebay, afterbay, and main aqueduct extending southward therefrom in the San Joaquin Valley (hereinafter referred to as the State San Luis works).

SEC. 3. The Secretary is authorized, on behalf of the United States, to negotiate and enter into an agreement with the State providing generally for coordinated operation of the Central Valley project and Feather River project and particularly for coordinated operation and joint use of the San Luis unit and the State San Luis works in order that the United States and the State each may deliver water to their respective service areas. Construction of the works authorized hereunder, except for the preparation of designs and specifications and other preliminary work, shall not be commenced until the execution of such an agreement between the United States and the State.

SEC. 4. The agreement between the United States and the State referred to in section 3 of this Act shall provide, among other things, that—

(a) the United States shall construct the San Luis unit and the State shall construct the State San Luis works, in accordance with section 2 hereof.

(b) the State San Luis works shall be so designed and constructed as to permit (I) immediate joint use and coordinated operation with the San Luis unit or (II) such subsequent enlargement or other modification as may be required for joint use and coordinated operation therewith;

(c) the United States shall make available to the State during the construction period sufficient funds to pay the share of the United States, based upon the proportions of total capacities required by it, of the construction costs of any facilities designed and constructed by the State as provided in section 2 hereof. The United States contribution shall be made in annual installments each of which bears the same ratio to total expenditures during that year as the total of the United States share bears to the total cost of the State San Luis works. The State similarly shall make available to the United States funds to pay the share of the State of the construction costs of any facilities constructed by the United States as provided in section 2 hereof.

(d) the United States shall pay annually to the State the share of the United States, based upon the proportions of total capacities required by it, of the operation, maintenance, and replacement costs of the State San Luis works. The State shall pay annually to the United States the share of the State, based upon the proportions of total capacities required by it, of the operation, maintenance, and replacement costs of the San Luis unit.

(e) 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, 17 U. S. C. 662), the features to which such allocation is attributable, whether constructed by the United States or the State, shall be operated and maintained in such wise as to retain the basis upon which such allocation is premised. Upon failure of the State so to operate and maintain those features so constructed, the amount allocated thereto shall become a reimbursable cost to be repaid by the State. SEC. 5. The United States, acting through the Secretary, may contract with the State to store or transfer water through facilities of the Central Valley project for ultimate delivery by the State, provided that only the excess capacity of the Central Valley project beyond other requirements existing at the time shall be so used and obligated, and the State shall pay to the United States a service charge or an appropriate share of the construction, operation, maintenance and replacement costs of the facilities so used. The Secretary is also authorized to contract with the State to store or transfer water through facilities of the State for ultimate delivery by the United States, and the United States shall pay to the State a service charge or an appropriate share of the construction, operation, maintenance and replacement costs of facilities so used. SEC. 6. The Secretary is authorized to construct, operate, and maintain and to participate with the State in the construction, operation, and maintenance of the San Luis interceptor drain to the delta, as described in said San Luis report of December 17, 1956, and, in accordance with sections 4 and 9 of this Act, to

permit the use thereof by the State. In constructing, operating, and maintaining a drainage system for the San Luis unit, the Secretary is authorized to permit the use thereof by other parties under contracts conforming generally to the provisions of the Federal reclamation laws with respect to irrigation repayment or service contracts and is further authorized to construct, operate, and maintain and to participate with others in the construction, operation, and maintenance of drainage facilities to serve the general area of which the lands to be served by the San Luis unit are a part. Except for facilities to be used by the State as provided hereinabove, no such construction or participation in construction which involves the expenditure of Federal funds shall be undertaken by the Secretary, however, until a contract or contracts conforming generally to the provisions of the Federal reclamation laws and providing, among other things, for the advance or repayment to the United States of its expenditures therefor shall have been entered into. 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. 7. The Secretary is authorized in connection with the San Luis unit and the State San Luis works 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 recalamation laws.

SEC. 8. The Secretary is hereby authorized to construct under the provisions of the Federal reclamation laws such distribution systems as he deems necessary in connection with lands, described in section 1 of this Act, to be served by the works of the San Luis unit authorized to be constructed hereunder.

SEC. 9. Subject to the requirements for co-ordination of operations in accordance with the agreement entered into pursuant to sections 3 and 4 of this Act, operation and control of the works of the San Luis unit shall be by the United States and operation and control of the State San Luis works shall be by the State. 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 or to dispose of drainage water.

SEC. 10. 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 $275,000,000, 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 indexes. There are also authorized to be appropriated, in addition thereto, such amounts as are required (a) for construction of distribution systems and drains authorized to be constructed hereunder and (b) for operation and maintenance of the San Luis unit and (c) for payment to the State of the share of the United States of construction, operation, and maintenance costs of the Feather River project, including the State San Luis works, as provided in this Act.

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
Washington D. C., June 28, 1957.

Hon. CLAIR ENGLE,

Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs,

House of Representatives, Washington 25, D. C.

MY DEAR MR. ENGLE: Reports have been requested from this Department on H. R. 2452, a bill to provide for Federal cooperation with the State of California in the construction of the San Luis unit of the Feather River project, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to negotiate an agreement therefor, and for other purposes, and H. R. 6035 and H. R. 7295, both of which are bills to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct the San Luis unit of the Central Valley project, California, to enter into an agreement with the State of California with respect to the construction and operation of such unit, and for other purposes. We recommend that H. R. 6035 be enacted.

This bill, if enacted, will permit the carrying out of the proposals made in this Department's project planning report on the San Luis unit, Central Valley project, dated August 1, 1956. After clearance through the Bureau of the Budget, copies of this report were transmitted to the Speaker of the House on December 17, 1956, and were referred to your committee.