Wichita Project Equus Beds Division Authorization Act of 2005
Key claim: Congress authorized the Interior Department to help fund Wichita, Kansas’s Equus Beds aquifer recharge project, while making the city solely responsible for operating, maintaining, and replacing it.
Abstract
(S1025 · 109th Congress) (This measure has not been amended since it was passed by the Senate on December 16, 2005. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Wichita Project Equus Beds Division Authorization Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to assist in the funding and implementation of the Equus Beds Aquifer Recharge and Recovery Component of the Integrated Local Water Supply Plan, Wichita, Kansas (referred to as the Equus Beds Division). Makes operation, maintenance, and replacement of the Division the sole responsibility of the City of Wichita. Authorizes appropriations for the federal share of the Division’s total cost. Terminates the Secretary’s authority to carry out this Act 10 years after its enactment. Latest action (2006-10-05): Became Public Law No: 109-299.
Why this matters
Federal cost-share for a municipal aquifer recharge project shifts a share of construction financing to Interior while leaving long-run O&M on local ratepayers, a common split for Bureau of Reclamation-adjacent water projects. It illustrates how Congress uses single-project authorizations to backstop urban water supply in drought-prone Great Plains cities without creating an ongoing federal operating role.