87TnCONGRESS lsT SESSION
H R
2207
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•
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JANUARY 9, 1961
Mr. CHENOWETH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-mittee on Interior and Insular Affairs
A
BILL
To authorize the construction, operation, and maintenance by the Secretary of the Interior of the Fryingpan-Arkansas project, Colorado.
1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representa-2 tives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled,
3 That for the purposes of supplying water for irrigation, 4 municipal, domestic, and industrial uses, generating and 5 transmitting hydroelectric power and energy, and controlling 6 floods, and for other useful and beneficial purposes incidental 7 thereto, including recreation and the conservation and de-8 velopment of fish and wildlife, the Secretary of the Interior 9 is authorized to construct, operate, and maintain the Frying-10 pan-Arkansas project, Colorado, m substantial accordance
2 ment Numbered 187, Eighty-third Congress, modified as 3 proposed in the Sepetember 1959 report of the Bureau of 4 Rccla.mation cntjtled "Ruedi Dam and Reservoir, Colorado", 5 with such minor modifications of, omissions from, or addi-6 tions to the works described in those reports as he may find 7 necessary or proper for accomplishing the objectives of the 8 project. Such modifications or additions as may be required 9 in connection therewith shall not, however, extend to or 10 contemplate the so-called Gunnison-Arkansas project; and 11 nothing in this Act shall constitute a commitment, real or 12 implied, to exportations of water from the Colorado River 13 system in Colorado beyond tho e required for projects hcre-14 tofore or herein authorized. In constructing, operating, and 15 maintaining the Fryingpan-Arkansas project, the Secretary 16 shall be governed by the Federal reclamation laws (Act of 17 June 17, 1902; 32 Stat. 388, and Acts amendatory thereof 18 or supplementary thereto) .
19 (b) A reservoir at the Ruedi site on the Fryingpan River 20 with an active capacity of approximately one hundred thou-21 sand acre-feet shall be constructed in lieu of the reservoir on 22 the Roaring Fork River at the Aspen site contemplated in
23 Ilouse Document Numbered 187, Eighty-third Congress. 24 The Secretary shall investigate and prepare a report on the
i feasibility of a replacement reservoir at or near the Ashcroft 2 site on the Roaring Fork River above its confluence with the 3 Fryingpan River with a capacity of approximately :five thou-4 sand acre-feet, Lut eoustructiou thereof shall not Le com-5 menced unless said report, which shall be submitted to the 6 President and the Congress, demonstrates the feasibility of 7 said reservoir and is approved by the Congress. The Secre-8 tary shall expedite completion of his planning report on the 9 Basalt project, Colorado, as a participating project under the 10 A.ct of April 11, 1956 ( 70 Stat. 105), and aid report shall 11 have the priority status of the reports to which reference is 12 made in section 2 of said A.ct.
13 ( c) No part of the single purpose municipal and indus- · 14 trial water supply works involved in the Fryingpan-A.rkansas 15 project shall be constructed by the Secretary in the absence 16 of evidence satisfactory to him that it would be infeasible 17 for the communities involved to construct the works them-18 elves, singly or jointly. In the event it is determined that 19 these works, or any of them, are to be con tructed by the 20 Secretary, a contract providing, among other things, for 21 payment of the actual cost thereof, with interest as herein-22 after provided, as rapidly as is consi tent with the contracting 23 parties' ability to pay, but in any event, within fifty years ·
4
1 water, and for assumption by the contracting parties of the 2 care, operation, maintenance, and replacement of the works
3 shall be a condition precedent to construction thereof.
4 f,Eo. 2. (a) Contracts to repay the portion of the cost of
5 the Fryingpan-Arkansas project allocated to irrigation and
6 assigned to be repaid by irrigation water users ( exclusive
7 of such portion of said cost as may be derived from
tempo-s
rary water supply contracts or from other sources) which 9 are entered into pursuant to subsection ( d) , section 9, of10 the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (53 Stat. 1187), as 11 amended, shall provide for a basic repayment period of not 12 more than fifty years after completion of construction and 13 shall not provide for any development period. Such
con-14 tracts shall be entered into only with organizations which 15 have the capacity to levy assessments upon all taxable real
l6 property located within their boundaries.
17 (b) Rates charged for commercial power and for water 18 for municipal, domestic, or industrial use or for the use of l9 facilities for the storage and/ or delivery of such water shall 20 be designed to return to the United States, within not more
21 than fifty years from the completion of each unit of the
proj-22 ect which serves those purposes, those costs of constructing, 23 operating, and maintaining that unit which are allocated to 24 said purposes and interest on the unamortized balance of said 25 construction allocation and, in addition, within the period
1 fixed by subsection (a) of this section, so much of the irriga-2 tion allocation as is beyond the ability of the water users and 3 their organizations to repay.
4 ( c) The interest rate on the unamortized balance of the 5 commercial power and municipal, domestic, and industrial 6 water supply allocations shall be determined by the Secretary 7 of the Treasury, as of the beginning of the fiscal year in 8 which construction is initiated, on the basis of the computed
9 average intere t rate payable by the Treasury upon it out-10 standing marketable public obligations, which are neither due 11 nor callable for redemption for fifteen years from the date of 12 issue.
13 SEC. 3. (a) The Fryingpan-Arkansas project shall be 14 operated under the direction of the SecretaTy in accordance 15 with the operating principles adopted by the State of Colo-16 rado on December 9, 1960, and reproduced in House Docu-17 ment Numbered , Eighty-seventh Congress.
18 (b) The Secretary may appoint the two representatives 19 of the United States to the Commission referred to in para-20 graph 19 of said principles and may, upon unanimous recom-21 mendation of the parties signatory to the operating prin-22 ciples, adopt such modifications therein as are not inconsistent
23 with the proviRions of this Act.
24 ( c) Any and all benefits and rights of western Colo-25 rado water users in and to water stored in the Green
1 l\Ionntain Reservoir, Colorado-Big Thompson project, as de-2 scribed, et forth and defined in Senate Document Numbered
3 80, Seventy-fifth Congress, shall not be impaired, prejudiced, 4 abrogated, nullified, or diminished in any manner whatever 5 by reason of the authorization, construction, operation, and 6 maiutenance of the Fryiugpan-Arkansa, project.
7 ( d) Except for such rights as are appurtenant to lands 8 ·which are acquired for project purposes, no valid right to the 9 storage or use of ·water within the natural basin of the 1
O Colorado River in the State of Colorado shall be acquired 11 by the Secretary of the Interior through eminent domain 12 proceeding for the pm·pose of storing or using outside of said 13 basin the water embraced within that right, and no water, 14 tho right to tho storage or n. o of ,Yhid1 is o acquired by 15 anyone other than the Secretary, Rhall ho transported 16 through or by means of any works of tho Fryingpan-17 Arkansa pToject from the Colorado River Basin to the 18 Arkansas River Basin.
19 SEC. 4. (a) The Secretary is authorized and directed 20 ( 1) to inve ti gate, plan, con trnct, operate, and maintain 21 public recreational facilities on lands ,vithdrawn or acquired 22 for the development of ,aid project, (2) to conserve the 23 scenery, the natural, historic, and archeologic object , and 24 the ,vildlifc on imid lands, (3) to pro,,ide for public use and 25 enjoyment of the same and of the water areas created by thi
1 project by such means as arc consistent with the purpo c 2 of said project, and ( 4) to iiwestigate, plan, construct, 3 operate, and maintnin facilities for the conservation and 4 clcYclopmcnt of fo,h and wildlife resources. The Secretary is
5 authorized to acquire lands and to withdraw public lands 6 from entry or other di position under the public land laws 7 necc~i::ary for the construction, operation, and maintenance· of S the facilities herein provided, and to dispose of them to 9 Federal, State, and local goyernrnental agencies by lease,
10 tran fer, exchange, or conveyance upon such terms and
con-11 ditions as will best promote their deYelopment and operation
12 in the public interest: P1·ovided, That all lands within the
13 exterior boundaries of a national forest acquired for
recrea-14 tional or other project purposes which arc not dctcnuincd
15 by the Scerdary of the Iut('rior to be needed for actual use 1 G in comtection Yith the reclnrnntiou works shall become
na-17 tional forest lands: Provided further, That the Secretary of
18 the Interior hall make his determination hereunder within
19 five years after approYal of this .. Act or, in the case of in-20 diYidnal tract 0f land, within five years after their acqui
i-21 tion by the l!nitcd States: .._ind provided fu1·tlzer, That the
22 authority coutaiucd in this section shall not Le exercised by 23 the Secretary of the Interior ,vitb respect to national fore. t 24 ]ands without the concnrrence of the Secretary of
1 (b) The costs, including the operation and maintenance
2 costs, of the undertakings described in subsection (a) of this
3 section shall be nom·eimbursable and nonreturnable under
4 the reclamation laws, and funds appropriated for carrying
5 out the authorization contained in section 1 of this Act shall,
6 without prejudice to the availability of other appropriated
7 moneys for the same purpose, also be available for carrying
8 out the investigations and programs authorized in this section.
9 SEC. 5. ( a) The use of water diverted from the
Colo-10 rado River system to the Arkansas River Basin through
11 works constructed under authority of this Act shall be
sub-12 ject to and controlled by the Colorado River compact, the
13 Upper Colorado River Basin compact, the Boulder Canyon
14 Project Act, the Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act,
15 the Colorado River Storage Project Act, and the Mexican
16 Water Treaty ( Treaty Series 994) , and shall be included
17 within and shall in no way increase the total quantity of
18 water to the use of which the State of Colorado is entitled
19 and limited under said compacts, statutes, and treaty, and
20 every contract entered into under this Act for the storage,
21 use, and delivery of such water shall so recite.
22 (b) All works constnrnted under authority of this Act,
23 and all officers, employees, permittees, licensees, and
con-24 tractees of the United States and of the State of Colorado
1 water of the Colorado River system diverted or delivered
2 through the works constructed under authority of this Act
3 and any enlargements or additions thereto shall observe and
4 be subject to said compacts, statutes, and treaty, as
herein-5 before provided, in the diversion, delivery, and use of water
6 of the Colorado River system, and such condition and
cov-7 enant shall attach as a matter of law whether or not set
8 out or referred to in the instrument evidencing such permit,
9 license, or contract and shall be deemed to be for the
bene-10 fit of and be available to the States of Arizona, California,
11 Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and vVyoming and
12 the users of water therein ~or thereunder by way of suit,
de-13 fense, or otherwise in any litigation respecting the waters of
14 the Colorado River system.
15 ( c) None of the waters of the Colorado River system
16 shall be exported from the natural basin of that system by
17 means of works constructed under authority of this Act, or
18 extensions and enlargements of such works, to the Arkansas
19 River Basin for consumptive use outside of the State of
20 Colorado, and no such waters shall be made available for
21 consumptive use in any State not a party to the Colorado
22 River compact by exchange or substitution; nor shall the
23 obligations of the State of Colorado under the provisions of
24 the Arkansas River compact ( 63 Stat. 145) be altered by
1 ( d) No right or claim of right to the use of the waters 2 of the Colorado River system shall be aided or prejudiced
3 by this Act, and the Congress does not, by its enactment,
4 construe or interpret any provision of the Colorado River
5 compact, the Upper Colorado River Basin compact, the
6 Boulder Canyon Project Act, the Boulder Canyon Project 7 Adjustment Act, the Colorado River Storage Project Act,
8 or the Mexican Water Treaty or subject the United States
9 to, or approve or disapprove any interpretation of, said
10 compacts, statutes, or treaty, anything in this Act to the
11 contrary notwithstanding.
12 ( e) In the operation and maintenance of all facilities
un-13 der the jurisdiction and supervision of the Secretary of the
In-14 terior authorized by this Act, the Secretary of the Interior
15 is directed to comply with the applicahle provisions of the
16 Colorado River compact, the Upper Colorado River Basin
17 compact, the Boulder Canyon Project Act, the Boulder
18 Canyon Project Adjustment Act, the Colorado River Storage
19 Project Act ( and any contract lawfully entered into by the
20 United States under any of said Acts) , the treaty with the
21 United 1\iexican States, and the operating principles, and to 22 comply with the laws of the State of Colorado relating to 23 the control, appropriation, use, and distribution of water 24 therein. In the event of the failure of the Secretary of the
1 Interior to so comply, any State of the Colorado River Basin 2 may maintain an action in the Supreme Court of the United
3 States to enforce the provisions of this section and consent
4 is given to the joinder of th~ United State as a party in such
5 suit or suits, as a defendant or otherwise, and any persbn 6 or entity whose rights may be affected, impaired, or infringed 7 upon by reason, or as a result, of such noncompliance may
8 maintain an action, uit, or proceedjng in the United States 9 District Court in and for the District of Colorado seeking
10 appropriate relief, and consent is hereby given to the joinder
11 of the United States, the Secretary of the Interior, and his
12 subordinate officials, employees, and agents as a party or
13 parties to such action, suit, or proceeding, as a defendant or
14 otherwise.
15 SEC. 6. The Secretary of the Interior is directed to
con-16 tinue his studies of the quality of water of the Colorado
17 River system, to appraise its uitability for municipal, do-18 mestic, and industrial use and for irrigation in the various
19 areas in tho United States in which it is used or proposed to 20 be used, to estimate the effect of additional developments
21 involving its storage and use ( whether heretofore author-22 ized or contemplated for authorization) on the remaiuing 23 water available for use in the United States, to study all 24 possible means of improving· the quality of such water and
1 of alleviating the ill effects thereof, and to report the results 2 of his studies and estimates to the Congress on January 3, 3 1963, and every two years thereafter.
4 SEO. 7. There is hereby authorized to be appropriated
5 for construction of the Fryingpan-Arkansas project, the sum 6 of $170,000,000, plus or minus such amounts, if any, as may 7 be justified by reason of ordinary fluctuations in construction
