S231JUL29

TheWeekInCongress.com

Week Ending July 29, 2005

S.231 A bill to authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to participate in the rehabilitation of the Wallowa Lake Dam in Oregon, and for other purposes

BRIEF

The dam was built in 1918 and is privately owned by the Associated Ditch Companies, Inc. (ADC). In 1996, safety concerns required that the dam’s reservoir be held low. The bill authorizes the Secretary of Interior to contract with the owners of the dam and other interested parties for planning, designing and constructing improvements to the dam.

Local Native American tribe, the Nez Perce, will plan, implement, own and operate fish passage facilities.

The dam owner (ADC) must take liability for the work and waive liability by the US government.

The Federal share would be 80 percent.

{More Information below }

Sponsor: Senator Gordon H. Smith (R-OR)

Vote: Passed Senate by Unanimous Consent (July 27, 2005)

Cost to the taxpayers: “CBO estimates that implementing S. 231 would cost $25 million over the 2006-2010 period. In addition, we estimate that implementing S. 231 would result in additional net direct spending by the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) of $5 million over the 2006-2010 period.”

MORE INFORMATION

Wallowa Lake Dam is a privately owned dam constructed in 1918 and raised in 1929. It is owned and operated by the Associated Ditch Companies, Inc. (ADC). Dam safety deficiencies have been identified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Oregon Water Resources Department, causing the reservoir to be held below full pool elevation since 1996. ADC, in conjunction with the Grande Ronde Model Watershed Council, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other local, State, and Federal agencies developed the Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation and Water Management Program to address dam safety deficiencies and to tie correction of those deficiencies to larger environmental issues in the Wallowa River Basin.

S. 231 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to participate in: (1) the Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation Program, in cooperation with ADC; and (2) phases II and III of the Wallowa Valley Water Management Plan, in cooperation with tribal, State, and local governmental entities. The Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation Program, as described in the February 2001 Vision Statement, focuses on planning, designing, and constructing recommended improvements to Wallowa Lake Dam. When this phase is completed, ADC will be able to raise pool levels and work closely with the Oregon State Parks Department to assess the impact on nearby park facilities.

Phase II of the Wallowa Valley Water Management Plan will focus on the planning and implementation of fish screens, automated head gates, and flow measurement devices at unscreened diversions. The Nez Perce Tribe is currently working with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to plan and implement fish recovery measures. S. 231 provides that only the Tribe may own and operate fish passage facilities constructed with Federal funds at Wallowa Lake Dam.

Phase III focuses on planning, designing, and implementing the institutional framework and infrastructure, including pumps and pipelines, needed for a water exchange between the Wallowa River and the Lostine and Bear Creek Valley irrigation system.

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