§2324 Reduced pricing for certain water supply storage

Summary

The Secretary can give water storage space in a federal water project to a low‑income community if the space is available or can be made available by changing how the project is used. The amount given cannot be more than what would supply 3,000,000 gallons of water per day. The price the community pays must be the higher of two numbers: (1) either the updated construction cost allocated to that storage or $100 per acre‑foot of storage, whichever of those two is smaller, and (2) the value of benefits lost by giving up that storage. The Secretary must use the latest information to figure those costs and values. The $100 figure is increased each year based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local or non‑Federal groups still must cover any operation and maintenance costs assigned to the storage. A "low‑income community" means either a place with under 20,000 people in a county whose per‑person income is lower than two‑thirds of U.S. counties, or a regional water system serving under 100,000 people whose per‑person income is lower than at least half of U.S. counties.