16 U.S.C. § 1002 — Definitions

For this chapter, the following terms mean:

“Secretary” means the Secretary of Agriculture of the United States.

“Works of improvement” means any undertaking for:

(1) preventing floods, including structural measures and land-treatment measures;

(2) conserving, developing, using, or disposing of water; or

(3) conserving and properly using land, in a watershed or subwatershed area of no more than 250,000 acres. Such an undertaking may not include a single structure that provides more than 12,500 acre-feet of floodwater detention capacity and more than 25,000 acre-feet of total capacity. The section does not define “watershed,” “subwatershed,” “acre,” “acre-foot,” “floodwater detention capacity,” “total capacity,” “structural measures,” or “land-treatment measures.”

No appropriation may be made for a plan if either:

• the estimated Federal contribution to construction costs is more than $25,000,000; or
• the plan includes a structure that provides more than 2,500 acre-feet of total capacity, unless the plan has been approved by resolutions adopted by the appropriate committees of the Senate and House of Representatives.

If a plan has no single structure providing more than 4,000 acre-feet of total capacity, the appropriate committees are the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry and the House Committee on Agriculture. If a plan includes any single structure of more than 4,000 acre-feet of total capacity, the appropriate committees are the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Public Works and Transportation. The section does not define “appropriation,” “plan,” “Federal contribution,” “construction costs,” “resolution,” or “appropriate committees.”

Each project must include benefits directly related to agriculture, including rural communities. Those benefits must account for at least 20 percent of the project’s total benefits. The section does not define “project,” “benefits,” “agriculture,” “rural communities,” or “total benefits.”

Several such subwatersheds may be planned together when they are parts of a larger watershed and the local sponsoring organizations want to plan them together. The section does not define “component parts,” “larger watershed,” “local sponsoring organizations,” or “desire.”

“Local organization” means any of the following:

• a State;
• a political subdivision of a State;
• a soil or water conservation district;
• a flood-prevention or flood-control district;
• any combination of these;
• any other agency that has authority under State law to carry out, maintain, and operate the works of improvement;
• an irrigation company, reservoir company, water-users’ association, or similar organization that has that authority, is not operated for profit, and may be approved by the Secretary; or
• an Indian tribe or tribal organization, as defined in section 5304 of title 25, that has authority under Federal, State, or Indian tribal law to carry out, maintain, and operate the works of improvement.

The section does not define “State,” “political subdivision,” “soil or water conservation district,” “flood prevention,” “flood control,” “agency,” “irrigation company,” “reservoir company,” “water-users’ association,” “similar organization,” “not operated for profit,” “Indian tribe,” “tribal organization,” “Federal law,” or “Indian tribal law.”