Statement of John W. Keys III

Commissioner, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

Department of the Interior

Before the

House Committee on Resources

U. S. House of Representatives,

on

H.R. 4938, Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska Feasibility Study

July 17, 2002

My name is John Keys, I am the Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation. I am pleased to provide the Administration's views on H.R. 4938 which directs the Secretary of the Interior (Secretary) to conduct a feasibility study for the municipal, rural and industrial water supply needs for the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska and adjacent communities. H.R. 4938, authorizes the appropriation of $500,000 to carry out this study.

The Bureau of Reclamation has worked with the Santee Sioux Tribe on water supply issues since 1996. In fact, Reclamation published a water supply needs assessment report in 1997 that confirmed that the Santee Sioux tribe's water supply is degraded and the water supply distribution system is inadequate. Reclamation could therefore support H.R. 4938 with a modification.



The Administration supports the Tribe's initiative to develop a safe and reliable water supply system. However, we believe the scope of the feasibility study should be limited to the Santee Sioux Reservation. Once the feasibility study is completed, it would allow the Administration to clearly assess and ultimately determine if the situation merits further action. The feasibility study will be based on the existing Principles and Guidelines for Water and Land Resources Implementation Studies. This leaves the Secretary with considerable discretion in deciding whether to proceed with the actual project.



The bill as written also raises issues related to funding, such as cost-share requirements of tribal and non-Indian communities and, more generally, Federal and non-federal government responsibility for rural water supply facilities.



Mr. Chairman, I appreciate Congressman Osborne's and the Santee Sioux Tribe's willingness to work with Reclamation to address the water supply needs on the Reservation, and for including Reclamation in the early stages of the project planning process. This early collaboration will ensure a quality planning document providing linkage between a realistic assessment of needs, budget requirements, and scheduling.



That concludes my testimony, I would be happy to answer any questions.