By:  Armbrister                                       S.C.R. No. 80
                             SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
    1-1        WHEREAS, The United States Department of Interior, Bureau of
    1-2  Reclamation, in times past has assisted the people of the State of
    1-3  Texas by cooperating with state and local governments in
    1-4  development of the state's water resources for municipal and
    1-5  industrial purposes; and
    1-6        WHEREAS, The projects developed by the Bureau of Reclamation
    1-7  in Texas are complete and have been turned over to local sponsors
    1-8  of the projects for operation; and
    1-9        WHEREAS, The water made available by such projects is water
   1-10  of the State of Texas, managed under the laws of Texas by the Texas
   1-11  Natural Resource Conservation Commission and local governmental
   1-12  entities; and
   1-13        WHEREAS, Bureau of Reclamation projects in Texas were
   1-14  authorized by congress and constructed under contracts that require
   1-15  repayment of the local share of costs to the Bureau of Reclamation;
   1-16  and
   1-17        WHEREAS, The Bureau of Reclamation's current actual function
   1-18  is largely limited to supervision of repayment of the local share
   1-19  of costs; and
   1-20        WHEREAS, In recent years the Bureau of Reclamation's mission
   1-21  has shifted from water resource conservation and development to
   1-22  oversight and management of existing projects; and
   1-23        WHEREAS, The Bureau of Reclamation, in an effort to support
    2-1  extended oversight and management activities, has imposed fees and
    2-2  charges on local sponsors for services that are neither necessary
    2-3  nor desired; and
    2-4        WHEREAS, State and local governments can manage local water
    2-5  resource projects more economically and efficiently for the benefit
    2-6  of all citizens and the environment of the State of Texas without
    2-7  assistance from the Bureau of Reclamation; and
    2-8        WHEREAS, The Legislature of the State of Texas favors
    2-9  elimination of unfunded federal mandates, unnecessary federal
   2-10  bureaucracy, and elimination of federal debt; and
   2-11        WHEREAS, Elimination of operational expenses for the Bureau
   2-12  of Reclamation and immediate repayment of project indebtedness due
   2-13  would assist in balancing the federal budget; now, therefore, be it
   2-14        RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas
   2-15  hereby endorse management of state water resource projects by state
   2-16  and local governmental entities created for that purpose without
   2-17  restraint, interference, or unsolicited assistance from the Bureau
   2-18  of Reclamation; and, be it further
   2-19        RESOLVED, That the Texas Water Development Board, as
   2-20  requested by those entities, is directed to assist local and
   2-21  regional entities in acquiring, either for the local entities or
   2-22  the state, the Bureau of Reclamation ownership interest in existing
   2-23  projects in Texas; and, be it further
   2-24        RESOLVED, That the Texas Legislature hereby encourage and
   2-25  urge congress to adopt legislation facilitating acquisition of the
    3-1  Bureau of Reclamation interests in existing projects in Texas by
    3-2  the state and local governments; and, be it further
    3-3        RESOLVED, That the Texas Secretary of State forward official
    3-4  copies of this resolution to the United States Department of
    3-5  Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, the President of the United
    3-6  States, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of
    3-7  representatives of the United States, and all members of the Texas
    3-8  delegation to the congress with the request that it be officially
    3-9  entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress
   3-10  of the United States.