demand that water without charge and without obligation on the part of the United States of America upon thirty days' notice as set forth in any such contract with the approval of the Secretary of the Navy: Provided, further, That all moneys paid in to the United States of America under any such contract shall be covered into the general fund of the Treasury, and shall not be applied against the indebtedness of the Fallbrook Public Utility District to the United States of America. In making any such temporary contracts for water not immediately needed by the Navy, the first right thereto, if otherwise consistent with the laws of the State of California, shall be given the Fallbrook Public Utility District. (b) The general repayment obligation of the Fallbrook Public Utility District (which shall include interest on the unamortized balance of construction costs of the project allocated to municipal and domestic waters at a rate equal to the average rate, which rate shall be certified by the Secretary of the Treasury, on the longterm loans of the United States outstanding on the date of this Act) to be undertaken pursuant to section 1 of this Act shall be spread in annual installments, which need not be equal, over a period of not more than fifty-six years, exclusive of a development period, or as near thereto as is consistent with the operation of a formula, mutually agreeable to the parties, under which the payments are varied in the light of factors pertinent to the irrigators' ability to pay. The development period shall begin in the year in which water for use by the district is first available, as announced by the Secretary, and shall end in the year in which the conservation storage space in De Luz Reservoir first fills but shall, in no event, exceed seventeen years. During the development period water shall be delivered to the district under annual water rental notices at rates fixed by the Secretary and payable in advance. and any moneys collected in excess of operation and maintenance costs shall be credited to repayment of the capital costs chargeable to the district and the repayment period fixed herein shall be reduced proportionately. The Secretary may transfer to the district the care, operation, and maintenance of the facilities constructed by him under conditions satisfactory to him and to the district and, with respect to such of the facilities as are located within the boundaries of Camp Pendleton, satisfactory also to the Secretary of the Navy. (c) For the purposes of this Act the basis, measure, and limit of all rights of the United States of America pertaining to the use of water shall be the laws of the State of California: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall be construed as a grant or a relinquishment by the United States of America of any of its rights to the use of water which it acquired according to the laws of the State of California either as a result of its acquisition of the lands comprising Camp Joseph H. Pendleton and adjoining naval installations, and the right to the use of water as a part of said acquisition, or through actual use or prescription or both since the date of that acquisition, if any, or to create any legal obligation to store any water in De Luz Reservoir, to the use of which it has such rights, or to require the division under this Act of water to which it has such rights. (d) Unless otherwise agreed by the Secretary of the Navy, De Luz Dam as herein provided shall at all times be operated in a manner which will permit the free passage of all of the water to the use of which the United States of America is entitled according to the laws of the State of California either as a result of its acquisition of the lands comprising Camp Joseph H. Pendleton and adjoining naval installations, and the rights to the use of water as a part of said acquisitions, or through actual use or prescrpition or both since the date of that acquisition, if any, and will not be administered or operated in any way which will impair or deplete the quantities of water to the use of which the United States of America would be entitled under the laws of the State of California had that structure not been built. SEC. 4. After the construction of the De Luz Dam, the official operating the reservoir shall deliver water to the Fallbrook Public Utility District, pursuant to regulations issued by the Secretary of the Interior, as follows: (1) One thousand eight hundred acre feet in any year until the reservoir attains an active content of sixty-three thousand acrefeet; (2) Not in excess of four thousand eight hundred acre-feet in any year after the reservoir attains an active content of sixtythree thousand acre-feet and until said reservoir attains an active content of ninety-eight thousand acre-feet; and (3) Not in excess of eight thousand acre-feet in any year after the reservoir attains an active content of ninety-eight thousand acre-feet and until the conservation storage space of the reservoir has been filled. SEC. 5. The Secretary of the Army through the Chief of Engineers, acting in accordance with section 7 of the Flood Control Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 887) is authorized to utilize for purposes of flood control such portion of the capacity of De Luz Reservoir as may be available therefor. SEC. 6. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury of the United States not otherwise appropriated, $22,636,000, the current estimated construction cost of the Santa Margarita River project, plus or minus such amounts as may be indicated by the engineering cost indices for this type of construction, and, in addition thereto, such sums as may be required to operate and maintain the said project. SEC. 7. From time to time the Attorney General, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Secretary of the Navy shall report to the Congress concerning the conditions specified in section 1 of this Act, and the first report thereon shall be submitted to the Congress no later than one year from the date of enactment of this Act. SANTA MARIA PROJECT CALIFORNIA Santa Maria Project was authorized by Act of Congress September 3, 1954 (68 Stat. 1190, Public Law 774, 83d Cong., 2d sess.). DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington 25, D. C., January 16, 1953. The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. SIR: On August 29, 1952, Acting Secretary of the Interior Wolfsohn approved and adopted the Bureau of Reclamation's proposed report of August 12, 1952, on the Santa Maria project, Southern Pacific Basin, Calif., as the proposed report of the Department of the Interior and authorized copies to be transmitted, in behalf of the Secretary, to the State of California and to the Secretary of the Army for their views and recommendations in accordance with the provisions of section 1 (c) of the Flood Control Act of 1944 (58 Stat. 887), to the State of California for the report and recommendations of the head of the agency exercising administration over the wildlife resources of that State in accordance with the provisions of the act of August 14, 1946 (60 Stat. 1080), and to interested Federal agencies for their views and comments. This action having been taken, I now submit this report which is based on and includes the proposed report, for your consideration. In response to the above transmittals, comments have been received from the State of California, the Department of Commerce, the Federal Power Commission, and the Public Health Service. Copies of these comments, all of which are favorable or raise no objection to the proposed construction, are attached. If other comments are received, they will be forwarded to you. The comments of the State of California are, in general, quite favorable to the plan of development presented in the report. The State concludes, among other things, that (1) the water-supply situation in the Santa Maria Basin is critical, and steps should be taken immediately to relieve the water shortage in that area; (2) the city of Santa Maria and developments in the flood plain should be protected adequately from damage from future floods; and (3) the proposed development would provide urgently needed supplemental water, and would improve flood protection. The State recommends authorization and construction of the project as set forth in the report. Other recommendations of the State relate to including certain provisions in the contracts between the United States and local interests relating to repayment and acquisition of project works and to giving consideration to the advantages of repaying reimbursable costs of the project to the Federal Government in a lump sum. These are matters which may appropriately be given further study in cooperation with State and local interests, but they are, in my opinion, matters of general policy which should be considered in general legislation rather than as applicable to a particular project. They concern broad policies of repayment and do not affect the proposed construction. The Department of Commerce comments only that the project is needed and that it appears to be economically sound. The Federal Power Commission raises no objection to the proposed development and agrees with our conclusion that the inclusion of power as a project purpose is not feasible. The Federal Security Agency comments that there appears to be no conflict with its water-pollution abatement, water supply, and vector-control programs. In my proposed report, the cost estimates were on the basis of October 1950 price levels. The works proposed for construction by the Department of the Interior are now estimated to cost $16,982,000 at current price levels of which $13,969,000 is allocated to water conservation and would be repaid by the beneficiaries, and $3,013,000 is allocated to flood control and is nonreimbursable. Local beneficiaries would be obligated to pay the $13,969,000 allocated to water conservation, plus the operation, maintenance, and replacement expenses for the project including those for the works to be operated by the Federal Government. Although the details relating to the repayment contract have not been worked out, local interests have indicated their willingness to assume this repayment obligation, it is expected that repayment contract negogiations would be consummated prior to start of construction. After consideration of all the comments received, modifications of the Department's proposed report are considered necessary only with respect to the cost estimates and the economic analyses as herein provided. Accordingly, I recommend that you approve and adopt this report on the Santa Maria project, Southern Pacific Basin, Calif., and that you transmit it together with copies of the comments to the President and subsequently to the Congress in accordance with the provisions of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939. Respectfully, (Signed) MICHAEL W. STRAUS, Commissioner. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington 25, D. C., January 16, 1953. THE PRESIDENT, The White House, (Through the Bureau of the Budget). MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: Attached for your consideration is my report on the Santa Maria project, Southern Pacific Basin, Calif. This report is sent to you pursuant to the provisions of section 9 (a) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1187). The report presents a plan for water conservation and flood control for the Santa Maria River Basin, Calif. The plan is the result of coordinated studies by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers, and it is proposed that each agency construct certain of the features in the dual-purpose plan. The report recommends authorization and construction of a 214,000 acre-foot reservoir on the Cuyama River and levee and channel improvements in the Santa Maria Valley. The Bureau of Reclamation would construct, operate, and maintain the reservoir. The Corps of Engineers would construct the related levee and channel improvements, and these would be operated and maintained by local interests. The proposed report of the Department of the Interior on this development was transmitted to the State of California and to the Secretary of the Army for their views and recommendations in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of the Flood Control Act of December 22, 1944, to the State of California for the report and recommendations of the head of the agency exercising administration over wildlife resources of that State in accordance with provisions of the act of August 14, 1946, and to the agencies represented on the Federal Inter-Agency River Basin Committee for their information and comments. Copies of comments which have been received from the State of California, the Department of Commerce, the Federal Power Commission, and the Public Health Service are attached. The 90-day period provided by law for submittal of comments expired about the middle of December. If other comments are received, they will be forwarded to you. I shall appreciate receiving advice concerning the relationship of the Santa Maria project to your program before the report is transmitted to the Congress. Sincerely yours, (Signed) OSCAR L. CHAPMAN, |