I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2277 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a feasibility study 

relating to long-term water needs for the area served by the FryingpanArkansas Project, Colorado, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 10, 2007 

Mr. LAMBORN (for himself and Mr. TANCREDO) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a 

feasibility study relating to long-term water needs for 

the area served by the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, Colorado, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. PURPOSES. 

4 The purposes of this Act are as follows: 

5 (1) To authorize the Secretary of the Interior 

6 (hereinafter referred to as ‘‘the Secretary’’) to con7 duct a feasibility study relating to present and fu8 ture water supply and related storage requirements 


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1 of the area served by the Fryingpan-Arkansas 

2 Project, Colorado. 

3 (2) To amend the Act of August 16, 1962, to 

4 authorize the Secretary to enter into contracts for 

5 the use of excess storage and conveyance capacity of 

6 the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, Colorado, for non7 project water for municipal, water banking, and 

8 other beneficial purposes. 

9 SEC. 2. FEASIBILITY STUDY. 

10 (a) AUTHORIZED.—Pursuant to Federal reclamation 

11 law (the Act of June 7, 1902, and all Acts amendatory 

12 thereof or supplementary thereto), the Secretary, through 

13 the Bureau of Reclamation, is authorized to conduct a fea14 sibility study to determine the most feasible method of 

15 meeting the present and future water supply and related 

16 storage requirements within the area served by the 

17 Fryingpan-Arkansas Project, including the potential en18 largement of Fryingpan-Arkansas facilities. In conducting 

19 such study, the Secretary shall take into consideration the 

20 following: 

21 (1) The Preferred Storage Options Plan Report 

22 published September 21, 2000, by the Southeastern 

23 Colorado Water and Storage Needs Assessment En24 terprise and Final PSOP Implementation Committee 


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1 Report, dated April 19, 2001 (hereinafter referred to 

2 as the ‘‘PSOP Reports’’). 

3 (2) The intergovernmental agreement dated 

4 May 27, 2004, among the City of Pueblo, the City 

5 of Aurora, the Southeastern Colorado Water Conser6 vancy District, the City of Fountain, the City of Col7 orado Springs, and the Board of Water Works of 

8 Pueblo, Colorado. 

9 (3) The need to ensure compliance with the Ar10 kansas River Compact as executed by the States of 

11 Colorado and Kansas on December 14, 1948. 

12 (b) FUNDING.—Before funds are expended for the 

13 study authorized by this section, the Southeastern Colo14 rado Water Activity Enterprise shall first agree to partici15 pate in the feasibility study and to fund, at a minimum, 

16 50 percent of the costs of such study. The Southeastern 

17 Colorado Water Activity Enterprise’s share of the costs 

18 may be provided partly or wholly in the form of services 

19 directly related to the conduct of the study, as determined 

20 by the Secretary. Costs incurred prior to the enactment 

21 of this Act to develop the PSOP Reports may be credited 

22 toward the Enterprise’s share of the costs of the feasibility 

23 study, as determined by the Secretary. 

24 (c) STUDY TO BE SUBMITTED.—The Secretary shall 

25 submit the feasibility study authorized by this section to 


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1 the President and the President Pro Tempore of the Sen2 ate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

3 (d) FURTHER AUTHORIZATION REQUIRED FOR CER4 TAIN EXPENDITURES.—No funds shall be expended for 

5 the construction of enlargements, or any other alternative 

6 identified in the feasibility study authorized by this section 

7 for which authority does not currently exist, without fur8 ther authorization by Congress. 

9 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

10 authorized to be appropriated $4,000,000 to conduct the 

11 feasibility study authorized by this section. 

12 SEC. 3. SECRETARY AUTHORIZED TO ENTER INTO CON13 TRACTS FOR THE USE OF EXCESS STORAGE 

14 AND CONVEYANCE CAPACITY OF THE 

15 FRYINGPAN-ARKANSAS PROJECT, COLO16 RADO. 

17 The Act of August 16, 1962 (76 Stat. 389 et seq., 

18 as amended), is amended by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new sections: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 8. (a)(1) Except as provided in section 9, and 

21 subject to the provisions of this Act and all other applica22 ble Federal statutes, the Secretary is authorized to enter 

23 into contracts with any entity, private or public, including 

24 those operating or participating in a water bank estab25 lished pursuant to Colorado law (hereinafter referred to 


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1 as an ‘entity’), for the use of excess capacity in the 

2 Fryingpan-Arkansas Project for the purpose of diverting, 

3 storing, impounding, pumping, exchanging, or conveying 

4 nonproject water for irrigation, domestic, municipal and 

5 industrial, or any other beneficial purpose. 

6 ‘‘(2) In entering into such contracts, the Secretary 

7 shall take into consideration the following: 

8 ‘‘(A) The preferred Storage Options Plan Re9 port published September 21, 2000, by the South10 eastern Colorado Water and Storage Needs Assess11 ment Enterprise and Final PSOP Implementation 

12 Committee Report dated April 19, 2001 (hereinafter 

13 referred to as the ‘PSOP Reports’). 

14 ‘‘(B) The intergovernmental agreement dated 

15 May 27, 2004, among the City of Pueblo, the City 

16 of Aurora, the Southeastern Colorado Water Conser17 vancy District, the City of Fountain, the City of Col18 orado Springs, and the Board of Water Works of 

19 Pueblo, Colorado. 

20 ‘‘(C) The need to ensure compliance with the 

21 Arkansas River Compact as executed by the States 

22 of Colorado and Kansas on December 14, 1948. 

23 ‘‘(b) The Secretary is authorized to enter into con24 tracts pursuant to this section the extent that such con25 tracts shall not impair or otherwise interfere with— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project’s author2 ized purposes; 

3 ‘‘(2) the ability of those with prior Fryingpan4 Arkansas Project contracts to meet such contractual 

5 obligations to the Secretary as existed at the time of 

6 the execution of a contract pursuant to the authority 

7 of this section; 

8 ‘‘(3) such contractual obligations as the Sec9 retary has to Fryingpan-Arkansas Project contrac10 tors at the time of the execution of a contract under 

11 the authority of this title; 

12 ‘‘(4) the storage allocations and limitations pur13 suant to Contract No. 5–07–70–W0086, as amend14 ed, renewed or superseded, between the South15 eastern Colorado Water Conservancy District and 

16 the United States, and the allocation principles 

17 adopted by the Southeastern Colorado Water Con18 servancy District on November 29, 1979, and con19 firmed by the District Court of Pueblo County in 

20 Civil Action No. 40487 by decree dated December 

21 18, 1979, including any subsequent modifications 

22 made by the District that are confirmed by the Dis23 trict Court; 


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1 ‘‘(5) the yield of the Fryingpan-Arkansas 

2 Project from its West Slope and East Slope water 

3 rights; or 

4 ‘‘(6) the ability of individuals or entities located 

5 within the natural basin of the Arkansas River with6 in Colorado to enter into contracts for the use of ex7 cess water storage and conveyance capacity pursuant 

8 to section 8 of this Act or any other authority under 

9 Reclamation law. 

10 ‘‘(c) To the extent such contracts are with an entity 

11 that does not have an allocation of Project carry over stor12 age space pursuant to the allocation principles adopted by 

13 the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy District on 

14 November 29, 1979, and confirmed by the District Court 

15 of Pueblo County in Civil Action No. 40487 by decree 

16 dated December 18, 1979, including any subsequent modi17 fications made by the District that are confirmed by the 

18 District Court (‘nonqualified’ entities); the contracts shall 

19 not impair or otherwise interfere with the ability of quali20 fied entities located within the natural basin of the Arkan21 sas River within Colorado to enter into contracts for the 

22 use of excess water storage and conveyance capacity pur23 suant to this section 6. 

24 ‘‘(d) Except as provided in section 9, before entering 

25 into such a contract with an individual or entity that will 


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1 use water stored or conveyed under such contact outside 

2 of the natural basin of the Arkansas River within Colo3 rado, the Secretary shall provide the Southeastern Colo4 rado Water Conservancy District a first right of refusal, 

5 exercisable within 90 days, to enter into contracts for the 

6 use of excess water storage and conveyance capacity made 

7 available to the individual or entity that shall use water 

8 stored or conveyed under such contract outside of the nat9 ural basin of the Arkansas River within Colorado. In no 

10 event shall the Southeastern Colorado Water Conservancy 

11 District enter into a subcontract with an individual or en12 tity that shall use water stored or conveyed under such 

13 contract outside of the natural basin of the Arkansas 

14 River. 

15 ‘‘(e) Nothing in sections 8 through 12 of this Act 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) increase diversions of Project water from 

18 the natural basin of the Colorado River; 

19 ‘‘(2) increase diversions of nonproject water 

20 from the natural basin of the Colorado River within 

21 Colorado into another river basin for delivery or 

22 storage, except as provided in section 12; 

23 ‘‘(3) affect the interpretation or implementation 

24 of any law related to any other water project authorVerDate Aug 31 2005 20:23 May 11, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2277.IH H2277

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1 ized before the date of the enactment of this section; 

2 or 

3 ‘‘(4) affect in any way contracts, or the renewal 

4 of contracts, entered into pursuant to authority 

5 other than this section, including, but not limited to, 

6 the following: 

7 ‘‘(A) Contract Nos. 00XX6C0049 and 

8 009D6C0048 between the Board of Water 

9 Works of Pueblo, Colorado, and the United 

10 States. 

11 ‘‘(B) The renewal of Contact Nos. 

12 00XX6C0049 and 009D60048; Contract No. 

13 6–07–70–W0090 (formerly Agreement No. 14– 

14 06–700–6019) between the Cities of Aurora 

15 and Colorado Springs and the United States. 

16 ‘‘(C) Contract No. 7–07–7010056 between 

17 Twin Lakes Reservoir and Canal Company and 

18 the United States. 

19 ‘‘(D) Contract No. 9–07–70–W0099 be20 tween the United States and High Line Canal 

21 Company. 

22 ‘‘(E) Contract No. 039E6C0117 between 

23 Board of Water Works of Pueblo and the 

24 United States. 


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1 ‘‘(f) Subject to the provisions of subsection (b), the 

2 Secretary may enter into contracts authorized by this sec3 tion upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary may 

4 determine to be just and equitable. The term of any such 

5 contract shall be for such period, not to exceed 40 years, 

6 as the Secretary deems appropriate. Upon expiration, such 

7 contracts may be renewed upon such terms and conditions 

8 as may be mutually agreeable to the Secretary and the 

9 contractor for the use of excess capacity. 

10 ‘‘(g) The Secretary shall establish such charges, sub11 ject to this section, for the use of excess capacity as the 

12 Secretary deems appropriate. Such charges shall consist 

13 of the following components: 

14 ‘‘(1) One component shall reflect either— 

15 ‘‘(A) construction costs based on either the 

16 original cost, the estimated current costs, or 

17 other appropriate measure of costs, including 

18 interest as provided in paragraph (3), of con19 structing the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project fa20 cilities involved; or 

21 ‘‘(B) another appropriate rate, such as a 

22 market rate. 

23 ‘‘(2) A second, separate component shall reflect 

24 an appropriate charge for operating, maintaining, 

25 and replacing these same facilities. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Except in the case of a market based rate, 

2 when excess capacity in Fryingpan-Arkansas Project 

3 facilities will be used to divert, store, impound, 

4 pump, or convey nonproject water for municipal and 

5 industrial purposes, an interest component using the 

6 rate determined by the Secretary in accordance with 

7 the Water Supply Act of 1958 (43 U.S.C. 390b). 

8 ‘‘(h) All charges established pursuant to this section 

9 shall be just and equitable as to the rates paid by those 

10 entities that receive project water from the Fryingpan-Ar11 kansas Project facilities. The project contractor rate shall 

12 be the baseline from which adjustments can be made based 

13 on the particular circumstances involved in the contract. 

14 ‘‘(i) Prior to the execution of any contracts under this 

15 section, the Secretary shall execute an agreement with the 

16 Southeastern Colorado Water Activity Enterprise to pro17 vide guidelines for the terms to be contained in the con18 tracts executed pursuant to this section. Such guidelines 

19 shall appropriately address impacts associated with water 

20 operations under the contracts, surcharges established by 

21 the Enterprise, reimbursement of costs incurred, and 

22 water quality monitoring, as identified by the South23 eastern Colorado Water Activity Enterprise and the Sec24 retary. 


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1 ‘‘(j) Any contract executed under this section shall 

2 contain a provision pursuant to which the contracting enti3 ty agrees to cooperate in a voluntary flow management 

4 program designed to maintain a target minimum flow of 

5 100 cfs just below Pueblo Dam. 

6 ‘‘SEC. 9. (a) The Secretary of the Interior may enter 

7 into new and renewal contracts with the City of Aurora, 

8 Colorado, or an enterprise of the City, for a term not to 

9 exceed 40 years, for use of storage or carrying capacity 

10 excess of the requirements of the Fryingpan-Arkansas 

11 Project, Colorado, for the purpose of impounding, storage, 

12 and carriage of nonproject water for domestic, municipal, 

13 industrial and other beneficial purposes. Such contracts 

14 shall be— 

15 ‘‘(1) limited to the storage and carriage of wa16 ters appropriated from the Arkansas River held by 

17 the City of Aurora, Colorado, or an enterprise of the 

18 City that— 

19 ‘‘(A) are decreed water rights and owned 

20 by the City of Aurora, Colorado, or an enter21 prise of the City as of December 7, 2001; 

22 ‘‘(B) are water rights described in a Colo23 rado Water Court water rights application 

24 pending as of December 7, 2001, or an amend25 ment or refiling does not increase the draft of 


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1 water from the Arkansas Basin that would have 

2 been available to the City of Aurora, Colorado, 

3 or an enterprise of the City under the original 

4 application; 

5 ‘‘(C) result from water lease agreements 

6 existing as of December 7, 2001, including any 

7 renewal or replacement contact for no more 

8 than the existing amount of water; 

9 ‘‘(D) result from interruptible supply 

10 agreements or water bank transactions author11 ized under Colorado law, and operating no more 

12 than five calendar years during any period of 

13 10 consecutive calendar years; or 

14 ‘‘(E) is traded to, or exchanged with, the 

15 City of Aurora, Colorado, or an enterprise of 

16 the City for one of the items listed in subpara17 graphs (A) through (C) as long as such trade 

18 or exchange does not increase the draft of water 

19 from the Arkansas River Basin that would have 

20 been available to the City of Aurora, Colorado, 

21 or an enterprise of the City under subpara22 graphs (A) through (C); 

23 ‘‘(2) are for water obtained by the City of Au24 rora, Colorado, or an enterprise of the City from the 

25 Colorado River consistent with section 12; 


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1 ‘‘(3) contain a provision pursuant to which the 

2 City of Aurora agrees to cooperate in a voluntary 

3 flow management program designed to maintain a 

4 target minimum flow of 100 cfs just below Pueblo 

5 Dam; 

6 ‘‘(4) include a provision whereby the City of 

7 Aurora, Colorado, or an enterprise of the City, 

8 agrees to participate in a long-term water quality 

9 monitoring and management program as outlined in 

10 the Implementation Committee Report, dated April 

11 19, 2001; and 

12 ‘‘(5) take into consideration the need to ensure 

13 compliance with the Arkansas River Compact as exe14 cuted by the States of Colorado and Kansas on De15 cember 14, 1948. 

16 ‘‘(b) Prior to the execution of any renewal contact 

17 with the City of Aurora, the Secretary of the Interior shall 

18 execute an Agreement with the Southeastern Colorado 

19 Water Activity Enterprise, which shall provide guidelines 

20 for the terms to be contained in a renewal contact exe21 cuted pursuant to this section. Such guidelines shall ap22 propriately address those impacts associated with water 

23 operations under the contracts, such as storage and con24 venience charges, surcharges established by the Enter25 prise, reimbursement of costs incurred, and water quality 


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1 monitoring, as identified by the Southeastern Colorado 

2 Enterprise and the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(c) Any contract executed under the authority of 

4 subsection (a) or (b) shall be in compliance with the provi5 sions of section 8(b). 

6 ‘‘(d) The Secretary shall establish such charges under 

7 this section 9 in a manner consistent with the provisions 

8 of section 8(g) and (h). 

9 ‘‘SEC. 10. (a) Except as provided under subsection 

10 (b), all revenue generated pursuant to contracts executed 

11 under sections 8 and 9 shall be credited as follows: 

12 ‘‘(1) That portion of the charges established 

13 pursuant to section 8(g) and 9(d) which is attrib14 utable to the component which reflects interest shall 

15 be credited as a general credit to the Reclamation 

16 Fund. 

17 ‘‘(2) That portion of the charges established 

18 pursuant to section 8(g)(2) and the comparable pro19 vision of 9(d) shall be credited against the appro20 priate project operation, maintenance, and replace21 ment costs. 

22 ‘‘(3) All remaining revenues in excess of those 

23 in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be credited as fol24 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(A) If reimbursable Federal construction 

2 costs are outstanding for the Fryingpan-Arkan3 sas project at the time revenues are received, 

4 then all remaining revenues shall be covered 

5 into the Reclamation Fund and credited to the 

6 Fryingpan-Arkansas Project. All remaining rev7 enues shall be credited against such reimburs8 able costs in a manner the Secretary deems to 

9 be just and equitable as to the reimbursable 

10 purposes which are involved. The revenues so 

11 credited shall not be applied so as to reduce the 

12 amount of the current annual payments due the 

13 Secretary from the project contractors or any 

14 other parties responsible for paying outstanding 

15 reimbursable project construction costs unless 

16 and until the party’s current annual payment 

17 due exceeds the remaining reimbursable con18 struction costs payable by the party. 

19 ‘‘(B) If no reimbursable Federal 

20 Fryingpan-Arkansas Project construction costs 

21 are outstanding at the time revenues are re22 ceived, then all remaining revenues shall be 

23 credited to a separate fund, established in the 

24 Treasury of the United States, to be known as 

25 the Fryingpan-Arkansas Project Fund, which 


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1 shall remain available, without appropriation, 

2 for new federally funded construction on the 

3 project, including, but not limited to, additions, 

4 rehabilitations and betterments, safety of dams 

5 modifications, and major capital replacements, 

6 applied against the Federal reimbursable costs, 

7 if any, of such new construction in such manner 

8 as the Secretary deems just and equitable as to 

9 the Federal reimbursable project purposes in10 volved. No expenditures may be made from the 

11 Fryingpan-Arkansas Project Fund without the 

12 express written consent of the Secretary and 

13 the Enterprise. 

14 ‘‘(b) Payments generated pursuant to contract terms 

15 established under section 8(i) and the comparable provi16 sions of 9(b) shall be made directly by the contractors to 

17 the Southeastern Colorado Water Activity Enterprise. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 11. (a) Nonproject water diverted, stored, im19 pounded, pumped, exchanged, or conveyed under a con20 tract entered into pursuant to section 8 or 9 shall be ex21 empt from any acreage limitation provisions of the Act 

22 of June 17, 1902 (32 Stat. 388), and Acts amendatory 

23 thereof and supplementary thereto including, but not lim24 ited to, the Warren Act of 1911, the Reclamation Reform 

25 Act of 1982 (96 Stat. 1263; 43 U.S.C. 390aa et seq.) and 


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1 from any farm unit size limitations established pursuant 

2 to section 4(c)(5) of the Act of August 11, 1939 (Chapter 

3 717; 16 U.S.C. 590z–2(c)(5)). 

4 ‘‘(b) Notwithstanding subsection (a), if such non5 project water is commingled with project water in Rec6 lamation project facilities, and the resulting commingled 

7 supply is used to irrigate lands in a project contractor’s 

8 service area, then such commingled water shall bear the 

9 same acreage limitations or farm unit size limitations as 

10 the project water unless— 

11 ‘‘(1) contract provisions are in effect which pro12 vide that project or nonproject water, or both, will 

13 be accounted for on a quantitative basis, that project 

14 water will not be delivered to ineligible land, and 

15 that appropriate charges, as determined by the Sec16 retary, will be paid for the project water; and 

17 ‘‘(2) the charges for the use of the excess ca18 pacity include an appropriate interest component, as 

19 determined by the Secretary. 

20 ‘‘SEC. 12. (a) Excess water storage capacity of the 

21 Fryingpan-Arkansas project to divert, store, impound, 

22 pump, or convey nonproject water made available under 

23 contracts executed pursuant to the provisions of sections 

24 8 and 9 shall not be used so as to increase diversion of 

25 nonproject water from the natural basin of the Colorado 


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1 River within Colorado into another river basin for delivery 

2 or storage unless— 

3 ‘‘(1) the diversion is the subject of a decree en4 tered prior to the effective date of this section for 

5 which no new infrastructure or legal approvals are 

6 necessary to divert the water out of the natural 

7 basin; 

8 ‘‘(2) the diversion is the subject of an agree9 ment in existence on the date of the enactment of 

10 this section, contemplating additional diversions di11 verted through or stored in the facilities authorized 

12 by this Act, between the beneficiary of such 

13 transbasin diversion and the water conservation dis14 trict, as defined under Colorado law, from within 

15 whose boundaries the waters are proposed for diver16 sion; 

17 ‘‘(3) the diversion is the subject of an intergov18 ernmental agreement or other contractual arrange19 ment executed after the date of the enactment of 

20 this section, between the beneficiary of such 

21 transbasin diversion and the water conservation dis22 trict, as defined under Colorado law, from within 

23 whose boundaries the waters are proposed for diver24 sion; or 


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1 ‘‘(4) the beneficiary of such transbasin diver2 sion provides compensatory storage or alternate 

3 water supply in an amount equal to the quantity di4 verted out of the basin for the benefit of the water 

5 conservation district, as defined under Colorado law, 

6 from within whose boundaries the waters are pro7 posed for diversion. 

8 ‘‘(b) Prior to executing any agreement, or arrange9 ment or agreement for provision of compensatory storage 

10 or alternative water supply, that allows for increased di11 versions of nonproject water as described in subsection 

12 (a), the parties to such agreements or arrangements shall 

13 submit the agreement or arrangement to the Secretary, 

14 who, within 30 days, shall submit such agreement or ar15 rangement to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate 

16 and the Speaker of the House of Representatives for a 

17 period of not less than 60 days. 

18 ‘‘(c) This section shall not be considered as precedent 

19 for any other congressionally authorized project.’’. 

Æ 


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