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The Interior Department said yesterday that it opposes 10 bills that would fund water recycling programs in parched California and Arizona.

Kris Polly, deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation, told the Senate Water and Power Subcommittee that the 10 bills for water projects in the Southwest would cost too much.

"While the department supports efforts to increase local water supplies and increase recycled water use," Polly said, the federal cost shares for the proposed measures would be too high. "Our priorities have to be set according to our budget demands," he said.

Each of the bills would seek to expand water recycling and reuse through a variety of programs. Several of the bills would fund the use of untreated ground water and stream water for irrigation purposes, to help the region curtail its reliance on imported water.

Four of the measures -- including S. 2259, H.R. 813, H.R. 1725 and H.R. 2614 -- involve desalination, a process that cleans water by removing salt and dissolved particles.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced the Senate bill, which targets the Santa Ana River watershed.

"Water in the West is scarce and we need to look for ways to increase water supplies across the board," said Scott Gerber, a spokesman for Feinstein.

The Santa Ana River watershed holds vast quantities of groundwater, but much of it cannot be used due to contamination from agriculture, according to Gerard Thibeault, executive officer of the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. As a result, the region imports much of its water supplies from northern California and the Colorado River.

As those freshwater imports become scarcer, local authorities want to cut dependency on outside sources.

"In this area, the water agencies are moving toward a locally sustainable water supply system and in doing so they have incorporated any number of very important water quality and water supply projects," Thibeault said. "The whole goal is to move toward not depending as much on imported water sources."

Desalination projects are a key component to this, he said, because they allow brackish groundwater to be cleaned and used for drinking and household purposes in the rapidly growing region.

Many Californians hope to see increased funding for such projects. But according to Polly, "The viability of desalination rests in the pocketbook of the beholder."

The bill would cost the federal government 25 percent of the project's total cost, or up to $50 million. The Interior Department opposes the estimated cost, Polly said.

The following bills were also reviewed by the Water and Power Subcommittee yesterday:

H.R. 31 would authorize the secretary to participate in the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District Wildomar Service Area Recycled Water Distribution Facilities and Alberhill Wastewater Treatment and Reclamation Facility Projects.

H.R. 716 would authorize the secretary to participate in the Santa Rosa Urban Water Reuse Plan. The bill would allocate $20 million in funding for water reuse projects, where water is filtered and used for non-potable purposes.

H.R. 786 would authorize the secretary to participate in the Los Angeles County Water Supply Augmentation Demonstration Project.

H.R. 1140 would authorize the secretary, in cooperation with the city of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., to participate in the design, planning and construction of an advanced water treatment plant facility and recycled water system.

H.R. 1503 would authorize the secretary to participate in the Avra Black Wash Reclamation and Riparian Restoration Project.

H.R. 1737 would authorize the secretary to participate in the design, planning and construction of permanent facilities for the GREAT project to reclaim, reuse and treat impaired waters in the area of Oxnard, Calif.

The bills have not yet been scheduled for markup by the full Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

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