§1572 Canal or Canal Lining

Summary

The Secretary can build a new concrete-lined canal or line the unlined part of the Coachella Canal from station 2+26 to the start of siphon 7, a stretch of about 49 miles, to help meet the salinity control goals in Minute No. 242. The United States may temporarily use the water saved by that work during an interim period that starts when construction is finished and ends the first year the Secretary delivers less main-stream Colorado River water to California than the total requested by (1) California agencies under contracts under section 617d and (2) federal entities relying on the Supreme Court decree in Arizona v. California (376 U.S. 340). Construction costs must be repaid without interest in equal yearly payments over 40 years starting the year after completion; repayment is split with the Coachella Valley County Water District, with payments treated as nonreimbursable during the interim period and allocated to the district afterward. The Secretary may buy, condemn, or exchange private land on the Imperial East Mesa in the Imperial Irrigation District if the land receives or has rights to water from Imperial’s Coachella Canal capacity; those costs are nonreimbursable, the land will be returned to the public domain, and no water rights are acquired. The Secretary may credit Imperial Irrigation District for capacity they give up because of the lining, without changing how All‑American Canal operation and maintenance costs are shared. The Secretary must give specified lands to the Cocopah Tribe to be held in trust (Township 9 South, Range 25 West, Gila and Salt River meridian, Arizona; Section 25: Lots 18,19,20,21,22,23; Section 26: Lots 1,12,13,14,15; Section 27: Lot 3; and all accretion) and build three bridges over the bypass drain on the reservation, one for heavy vehicles; the land transfer and bridges fully pay the tribe for rights‑of‑way for the bypass drain and power lines.