Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

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1	1	By: Uresti S.C.R. No. 2
2	2	(Gallego)
3	3
4	4
5	5	SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
6	6	WHEREAS, The Amistad International Reservoir, situated on
7	7	the Texas-Mexico border near Del Rio, supplies water to numerous
8	8	area communities for municipal, industrial, and agricultural
9	9	purposes; yet, with a salt content near the upper limit of the Texas
10	10	standard for drinking water, the reservoir may become an unusable
11	11	resource for all; and
12	12	WHEREAS, Two of its main tributaries, the Rio Grande and the
13	13	Pecos River, are heavily saturated with salt due in part to the
14	14	composition of the surrounding land, which was once part of a great
15	15	inland sea; when dry land emerged, salt from the sea was trapped in
16	16	the soil and in underground aquifers; originating in New Mexico,
17	17	the Pecos River, in particular, is one of the most saline waterways
18	18	in North America and accounts for nearly 30 percent of the salt
19	19	loading of the reservoir; and
20	20	WHEREAS, The upper limit of Texas drinking water standards
21	21	for minerals including salt is 1,000 milligrams per liter; when
22	22	that limit is exceeded, municipalities that rely on water released
23	23	into the Rio Grande from the Amistad Reservoir will face costly
24	24	treatment methods to meet state standards; moreover, the elevated
25	25	levels of salt may force farmers to discontinue the growth of
26	26	certain crops; while fresh water inflow from runoff could help
27	27	alleviate the salinity, the potential for such runoff is limited;
28	28	and
29	29	WHEREAS, The Amistad International Reservoir is shared by
30	30	both the United States and Mexico, in accordance with the terms of a
31	31	1944 treaty; for that reason and because the reservoir's holdings
32	32	derive from multiple states, it is incumbent on the national
33	33	government to take the lead in addressing this urgent problem; and
34	34	WHEREAS, Congress began that process by enacting Section 729
35	35	of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986, 33 U.S.C. Section
36	36	2267a, and by developing a program in Section 5056 of the Water
37	37	Resources Development Act of 2007, Pub. L. No. 110-114, 121 Stat.
38	38	1041, 1213-1214 (2007), that directs the secretary of the army to
39	39	rehabilitate and enhance fish and wildlife habitat and to implement
40	40	long-term monitoring, data collection and analysis, applied
41	41	research, and adaptive management within the Rio Grande Basin; and
42	42	WHEREAS, Past studies must be evaluated to determine a
43	43	strategy for moving forward; in addition, it is imperative that
44	44	funding and continuing authority for Section 5056 of the Water
45	45	Resources Development Act of 2007, which is set to expire in 2011,
46	46	be reenacted so that efforts to solve the salt problem in the
47	47	reservoir can continue; now, therefore, be it
48	48	RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
49	49	hereby respectfully urge the United States Congress to reauthorize
50	50	the Water Resources Development Act of 2007, Section 5056, and to
51	51	appropriate sufficient funds to carry out work related to that
52	52	legislation; and, be it further
53	53	RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
54	54	copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, the
55	55	speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the
56	56	senate of the United States Congress, and all the members of the
57	57	Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this resolution
58	58	be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to
59	59	the Congress of the United States of America.