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INTRODUCTION Water Supply Partnership Kit 1 We welcome you as a partner with the U. S. Anny Corps of Engineers in the development and management of the Nation's water resources. This Partnership Kit contains a collection of tools designed to help you better understand the Corps mission in the area of municipal and industrial water supply and how you can utilize this mission to help you meet your water supply needs. This kit also includes some general information about the Corps, as well as more specific information about the District office in your area. The Anny Corps of Engineers (Corps) is the Federal government's largest water resources development and management agency. Our water resources (Civil Works) program began in 1824, when Congress first appropriated funds for improving navigation. Since then, we have been involved in improving navigation in rivers and harbors, reducing flood damages, and protecting our shorelines. Many projects designed for these missions also generate hydroelectric power; supply water for cities, industries and agriculture; and provide outdoor recreation. Entwined within these missions is environmental management and restoration. WATER SUPPLY MISSION National policy concerning the Corps role in water supply has been developed over a nwnber of years and is still being clarified and extended through budgetary guidance and by legislation enacted through water resources development acts. This policy is based on a recognition that states and local interests have the primary responsibility in the development and management of their water supplies. The Corps role in water supply can be defined by three le.gic:htiw" ~,....t~ ThP~P ~rp: Section 6 of the 1944 Flood Control Act (swplus water), Section 8 of the 1944 Flood Control Act (agricultural water supply), and the 1958 Water Supply Act (storage). In limited circumstances, we may also provide emergency supplies of clean water to a locality confronted by a source of contaminated water likely to cause a substantial threat to public health. These specifically defined roles are discussed in more detail in the following sections in the order of significance from a Corps mission standpoint. WATER SUPPLY STORAGE AUTHORITY. Most likely, your request for assistance from the Corps to help you solve your water supply needs will full under the general category of "water supply storage." The authority for the Corps to include storage for municipal and industrial (M&I) water supply in both new and existing reservoir projects is contained in the 1958 River and Harbor Act. Title III of this Act (Public Law 85-500) is entitled the "Water Supply Act of 1958." While this act gives tile Corps authority to modify projects for water supply, any modification which would seriously affect the project, its other purposes, or its operation, can only be accomplished with the approval of Congress. The 1958 Water Supply Act has been amended twice, once by Section 10 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1961, and again by Section 932 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (WRDA '86). The 1961 amendment eased restrictions of the 1958 Act by pennitting the acceptance of assurances for the use of future water supply as a means of accommodating the construction cost payment for future water supply. The 1986 amendment put more burden on the non-Federal sponsor for water supply in Corps projects, but not for water supply in Bureau of Reclamation projects. This amendment eliminated the 10-year interest free period; modified the interest rate formula; reduced the repayment period from 50 to 30 years; and required the annual oDeration, maintenance and replacement costs to be reimbursed on an annual basis. This latter requirement was already a part of Corps repayment policy. For your information, a copy of the 1958 Water Supply Act, as amended, is provided as Attachment A.