49–010 

Calendar No. 215 

114TH CONGRESS REPORT " ! SENATE 1st Session 114–135 

FONTENELLE RESERVOIR 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015.—Ordered to be printed 

Ms. MURKOWSKI, from the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources, submitted the following 

R E P O R T 

[To accompany S. 1305] 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 

referred the bill (S. 1305) to amend the Colorado River Storage 

Project Act to authorize the use of the active capacity of the 

Fontenelle Reservoir, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment in the nature of a substitute and 

an amendment to the title and recommends that the bill, as 

amended, do pass. 

The amendments are as follows: 

1. Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the following: 

SECTION 1. AUTHORITY TO MAKE ENTIRE ACTIVE CAPACITY OF FONTENELLE RESERVOIR 

AVAILABLE FOR USE. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior, in cooperation with the State of 

Wyoming, may amend the Definite Plan Report for the Seedskadee Project authorized under the first section of the Act of April 11, 1956 (commonly known as the 

‘‘Colorado River Storage Project Act’’) (43 U.S.C. 620), to provide for the study, design, planning, and construction activities that will enable the use of all active storage capacity (as may be defined or limited by legal, hydrologic, structural, engineering, economic, and environmental considerations) of Fontenelle Dam and Reservoir, 

including the placement of sufficient riprap on the upstream face of Fontenelle Dam 

to allow the active storage capacity of Fontenelle Reservoir to be used for those purposes for which the Seedskadee Project was authorized. 

(b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior may enter into any contract, 

grant, cooperative agreement, or other agreement that is necessary to carry out 

subsection (a). 

(2) STATE OF WYOMING.— 

(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior shall enter into a cooperative agreement with the State of Wyoming to work in cooperation and collaboratively with the State of Wyoming for planning, design, related 

preconstruction activities, and construction of any modification of the 

Fontenelle Dam under subsection (a). 


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(B) REQUIREMENTS.—The cooperative agreement under subparagraph (A) 

shall, at a minimum, specify the responsibilities of the Secretary of the Interior and the State of Wyoming with respect to— 

(i) completing the planning and final design of the modification of the 

Fontenelle Dam under subsection (a); 

(ii) any environmental and cultural resource compliance activities required for the modification of the Fontenelle Dam under subsection (a) 

including compliance with— 

(I) the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

4321 et seq.); 

(II) the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

and 

(III) subdivision 2 of division A of subtitle III of title 54, United 

States Code; and 

(iii) the construction of the modification of the Fontenelle Dam under 

subsection (a). 

(c) FUNDING BY STATE OF WYOMING.—Pursuant to the Act of March 4, 1921 (41 

Stat. 1404, chapter 161; 43 U.S.C. 395), and as a condition of providing any additional storage under subsection (a), the State of Wyoming shall provide to the Secretary of the Interior funds for any work carried out under subsection (a). 

(d) OTHER CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Interior may enter into contracts with 

the State of Wyoming, on such terms and conditions as the Secretary of the Interior and the State of Wyoming may agree, for division of any additional active 

capacity made available under subsection (a). 

(2) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Unless otherwise agreed to by the Secretary of 

the Interior and the State of Wyoming, a contract entered into under paragraph 

(1) shall be subject to the terms and conditions of Bureau of Reclamation Contract No. 14–16 06–400–2474 and Bureau of Reclamation Contract No. 14–06– 

400–6193. 

SEC. 2. SAVINGS PROVISIONS. 

Unless expressly provided in this Act, nothing in this Act modifies, conflicts with, 

preempts, or otherwise affects— 

(1) the Act of December 31, 1928 (43 U.S.C. 617 et seq.) (commonly known 

as the ‘‘Boulder Canyon Project Act’’); 

(2) the Colorado River Compact of 1922, as approved by the Presidential Proclamation of June 25, 1929 (46 Stat. 3000); 

(3) the Act of July 19, 1940 (43 U.S.C. 618 et seq.) (commonly known as the 

‘‘Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act’’); 

(4) the Treaty between the United States of America and Mexico relating to 

the utilization of waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio 

Grande, and supplementary protocol signed November 14, 1944, signed at 

Washington February 3, 1944 (59 Stat. 1219); 

(5) the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact as consented to by the Act of 

April 6, 1949 (63 Stat. 31); 

(6) the Act of April 11, 1956 (commonly known as the ‘‘Colorado River Storage 

Project Act’’) (43 U.S.C. 620 et seq.); 

(7) the Colorado River Basin Project Act (Public Law 90–537; 82 Stat. 885); 

or 

(8) any State of Wyoming or other State water law. 

2. Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to amend the Definite Plan Report for the 

Seedskadee Project to enable the use of the active capacity of the 

Fontenelle Reservoir.’’. 

PURPOSE

The purpose of S. 1305 is to amend the Colorado River Storage 

Project Act to authorize the use of the active capacity of the 

Fontenelle Reservoir. 

BACKGROUND AND NEED

Fontenelle Reservoir is a principal feature of the Seedskadee 

Project, one of the initial projects authorized under the Colorado 

River Storage Project Act of 1956. Authorized uses of Fontenelle 


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Reservoir storage water include irrigation, fish and wildlife, recreation, and domestic, industrial and municipal stock watering, as 

primary purposes, with power generation specified as the only secondary purpose. 

Currently, the State of Wyoming has the right to perpetually 

market 120,000 acre-feet of the original 190,250 acre-feet active capacity from the reservoir. However, in order to increase the use of 

water storage and supplies from the reservoir, infrastructure improvements must be made to prevent erosion. This bill would provide authority for the Secretary to enter into an agreement with 

the State of Wyoming to complete this work. 

S. 1305 would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter 

into an agreement with the State of Wyoming to place riprap 

around the reservoir, on the condition that the State pay for the 

entire project, including the study, design, planning, and construction of the project. 

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

S. 1305 was introduced by Senator Barrasso on May 12, 2015. 

Companion legislation, H.R. 2273, was introduced by Representative Lummis in the House of Representatives on the same day. The 

Subcommittee on Water and Power held a legislative hearing on S. 

1305 on June 18, 2015. 

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met in open 

business session on July 30, 2015, and ordered S. 1305 favorably 

reported as amended. 

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an 

open business session on July 30, 2015, by a majority voice vote of 

a quorum present, recommended that the Senate pass S. 1305, if 

amended as described herein. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

During the consideration of S. 1305, the Committee adopted an 

amendment in the nature of a substitute and an amendment to the 

title. 

The substitute amendment modifies section 1 to remove language 

that would have amended the Colorado River Storage Project Act 

to include a new section 17 in order to provide the authority under 

the bill to expand the Fontenelle Reservoir’s capacity. 

The title amendment strikes the title for S. 1305 as introduced 

and inserts ‘‘A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 

amend the Definite Plan Report for the Seedskadee Project to enable the use of the active capacity of the Fontenelle Reservoir. 

SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

Section 1(a) authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to work with 

the State of Wyoming through cooperative agreements to enable 

the use of all active storage capacity of the Fontenelle Dam and 

Reservoir. Section 1(b) outlines the minimally required components 

of the agreements, including that the State of Wyoming shall be responsible for all funding of activities carried out under this act. 


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Section 2 includes savings provisions specifying that nothing in 

this act modifies, conflicts with, preempts, or otherwise affects the 

Boulder Canyon Project Act, the Colorado River Compact of 1922; 

the Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act; the Treaty between 

the U.S. and Mexico relating to the utilization of waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande; the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact; the Colorado River Storage Project Act; 

the Colorado River Basin Project Act; or any State of Wyoming or 

other State water law. 

COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

The following estimate of the costs of this measure has been provided by the Congressional Budget Office: 

S. 1305—A bill to amend the Colorado River Storage Project Act to 

authorize the use of the active capacity of the Fontenelle Reservoir 

S. 1305 would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to 

plan and construct a project to expand water storage at Fontenelle 

Dam and Reservoir in southwestern Wyoming. Based on information from the BOR, CBO estimates that implementing the legislation would have an insignificant net cost. Because implementing S. 

1305 would affect direct spending, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. 

Enacting S. 1305 would not affect revenues. 

Under current law, the amount of water storage available to the 

State of Wyoming at the reservoir is the difference between full capacity and the lowest water level that allows all of the authorized 

purposes of the Fontenelle project to be performed. Under the bill, 

the BOR would coordinate with the State of Wyoming to design 

and construct modifications to Fontenelle Dam and Reservoir to 

allow the project to operate at a lower water level, thus expanding 

the amount of storage available to the state. S. 1305 also would require the state to contribute 100 percent of the costs to design and 

construct the project. (Those contributions would be recorded in the 

budget as offsetting receipts and would subsequently be spent without further appropriation.) 

S. 1305 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would 

benefit the State of Wyoming. Any costs incurred by state agencies 

related to the federal water project would be incurred voluntarily 

as conditions of receiving federal assistance. 

The CBO staff contacts for this estimate are Aurora Swanson (for 

federal costs) and Jon Sperl (for intergovernmental mandates). The 

estimate was approved by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy Assistant 

Director for Budget Analysis. 

REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following evaluation 

of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in carrying out 

the bill. 

The bill is not a regulatory measure in the sense of imposing 

Government-established standards or significant economic responsibilities on private individuals and businesses. 


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No personal information would be collected in administering the 

program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal privacy. 

Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the enactment of the bill, as ordered reported. 

CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

The bill, as reported, does not contain any congressionally directed spending items, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the Senate. 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

The testimony provided by the Bureau of Reclamation at the 

June 18, 2015, Water and Power Subcommittee hearing on S. 1305 

follows: 

STATEMENT OF DIONNE THOMPSON, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER

FOR EXTERNAL AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, BUREAU OF RECLAMATION, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Chairman Lee and members of the Subcommittee, I am 

Dionne Thompson, Deputy Commissioner for External and 

Intergovernmental Affairs at the Bureau of Reclamation 

(Reclamation). Thank you for the opportunity to provide 

the views of the Department of the Interior (Department) 

on S. 1305, which would amend the Colorado River Storage Project Act (Public Law 84–485). The amendment authorizes Reclamation to increase the active capacity and, 

as a result, the amount of water developed by Fontenelle 

Reservoir in Wyoming. With the concerns described below 

appropriately noted, the Department does not oppose S. 

1305 in its current form. 

Fontenelle Reservoir is part of the Seedskadee Project, a 

participating project under P.L. 84–485. The dam and reservoir are located in the Upper Green River Basin in 

southwestern Wyoming about 50 miles from Rock Springs. 

Fontenelle Dam is an embankment dam standing 139 feet 

high with a crest length of over a mile (5,421 feet). 

Fontenelle Reservoir has a total capacity of 345,360 acrefeet and is operated for municipal and industrial water 

use, power production, flood control, and fish and wildlife—in support of the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. Recreation facilities at Fontenelle Reservoir are managed by the Bureau of Land Management under an agreement with Reclamation. 

The intent of S. 1305 is to increase the yield of 

Fontenelle Reservoir, further developing the State of Wyoming’s allocation of Colorado River water under the Colorado River Compact. To understand how S. 1305 would increase the water available to Wyoming, it is important to 

review some basic engineering features associated with 

Fontenelle Dam. 

In general, the active capacity of a reservoir is the space 

between the highest elevation at which water can be 

stored and the lowest elevation from which water can be 

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poses. Power is an authorized purpose of the Seedskadee 

Project. The lowest elevation at which Fontenelle Powerplant can be safely operated is approximately 40 feet above 

the bottom elevation of the inlet to the powerplant, and is 

referred to as ‘‘minimum power pool elevation.’’ 

In order to protect the upstream face of a dam from erosion caused by wave action, large stones that are resistant 

to erosion and wave action are placed on the upstream side 

of the dam. These stones are referred to as ‘‘riprap’’. In 

keeping with engineering practices, Fontenelle Dam includes riprap protection on the upstream face of the embankment. Because the dam would not be operated with 

any frequency below the lowest power production elevation, original construction and subsequent modifications 

did not include placing riprap on the upstream face of dam 

below minimum power pool elevation. 

For some years, the State of Wyoming has expressed interest in placing riprap below the minimum power pool 

elevation, and this project has come to be known as the 

‘‘Riprap Project.’’ By doing so, it would be possible to operate the reservoir within a greater range of elevations—increasing the operating range and yield of the reservoir. S. 

1305 would authorize the Department to undertake the 

‘‘study, planning, design and construction activities’’’ necessary to consider and implement the Riprap Project (a 

lowering of the elevation of the riprap). 

In considering the Riprap Project, Reclamation has had 

concerns, and we appreciate the chance to review this legislation as it was drafted over the past several months. We 

are pleased to note that each of these concerns appears to 

be addressed in the introduced language of S. 1305. 

S. 1305 amends P.L. 84–485 to authorize consideration 

and implementation of the Riprap Project. In doing so, it 

grounds the Riprap Project on the statute that originally 

authorized the Seedskadee Project. S. 1305 relies upon the 

authority of the Contributed Funds Act (Act of March 4, 

1921) as the means for the State of Wyoming to provide 

the funding to consider and undertake the Riprap Project. 

With this arrangement, Reclamation believes that the 

Riprap Project can be implemented without any request 

for new appropriations, and with no foreseeable impact to 

Reclamation’s already constrained budget. 

It is unlikely that the Riprap Project will adversely affect other states dependent on the Colorado River or Mexico beyond what they would face when the Upper Basin 

States make full utilization of their apportionments, considering their apportionments and required releases from 

the Upper Basin to the Lower Basin under current operational guidelines that implement key provisions of the 

Law of the River including the Colorado River Compact. 

Having said that, if S. 1305 becomes law, it will be important to conduct additional analysis to ensure that other interests are protected. S. 1305 includes the following elements that should provide some assurance of no adverse 

impacts to other water uses. 


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First, S. 1305 appears to create robust sideboards to prevent the Riprap Project from conflicting with law, compacts, and treaties. This protects against Wyoming expanding its entitlement to Colorado River water. In Section 2, S. 1305 provides reassurance that it will not modify, conflict with, preempt, or otherwise affect any applicable federal statutes or decrees, including, but not limited 

to: • Boulder Canyon Project Act • Colorado River Compact of 1922 • Boulder Canyon Project Adjustment Act • Treaty between the United States of America and 

Mexico relating to the utilization of waters of the Colorado and Tijuana Rivers and of the Rio Grande • Upper Colorado River Basin Compact • Colorado River Storage Project Act (P.L. 84–485), 

other than as indicated in Section 1 of S. 1305 • Colorado River Basin Project Act (Public Law 90– 

537; 82 Stat. 885) • Any State of Wyoming or other State water law 

Second, S. 1305 amends P.L. 84–485 to authorize the 

planning, design, and construction of the Riprap Project. 

The bill’s stated purposes include ‘‘making it possible for 

the States of the Upper Basin to utilize, consistently with 

the provisions of the Colorado River Compact, the apportionments made to and among them in the Colorado River 

Compact and the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact, respectively.’’ P.L. 84–485 sets a clear boundary around the 

Riprap Project; it cannot permit Wyoming to expand its 

entitlements under the Colorado River Compact and the 

Upper Colorado River Basin Compact. 

Another important element of S. 1305 is the definition 

of active storage capacity. Although active capacity can 

generally be understood as the difference between the 

upper and lower elevations at which a reservoir may be 

operated, the elevation of both the upper and lower limit 

may also be defined by considerations beyond engineering. 

Other considerations often limit the degree to which a reservoir may be drained. These considerations include issues 

of law, hydrology, economics, and environment. S. 1305 acknowledges these limitations; in the bill ‘‘active storage capacity’’ is ‘‘defined or limited by legal, hydrologic, structural, engineering, economic, and environmental considerations.’’ 

Environmental compliance concerns also are addressed 

under S. 1305. The bill requires compliance under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species 

Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act. 

While S. 1305 is clearly written to integrate with existing law, regulations and contracts, there are some questions associated with operation and design that may limit 

the scope of the Riprap Project. Reclamation has not studied the operation of Fontenelle Dam at the lower elevations proposed under the Riprap Project. The original 

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ations at such low levels. Operation at lower levels could 

raise the following issues that should be explored by the 

study to be authorized by this Act: • Water Delivery Requirements—At lower reservoir 

elevations, the rate at which the reservoir can be 

drained is slowed (because of the reduced hydraulic 

head). Without the study and planning that would be 

conducted pursuant to this bill, Reclamation does not 

know whether water can be delivered at such rates as 

would be necessary. • Instream Flows—Under current operations and 

agreements, Reclamation is required to deliver 5,000 

acre-feet to the Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge 

for fish and wildlife purposes on an annual basis. As 

noted above, without additional study Reclamation 

does not know whether it will be able to meet these 

flow requirements at lower reservoir levels. • Power Generation—Operating the reservoir at 

lower elevations will affect powerplant operations. 

There would be periods when the powerplant cannot 

be operated efficiently and when the powerplant cannot be operated at all. The result will be impacts on 

Reclamation’s ability to generate and deliver power 

under P.L. 84–485. There is a potential for impacts to 

irrigators and municipalities that use Colorado River 

Storage Project power as well as to the members of the 

Colorado River Energy Distributors Association, which 

rely upon and purchase the power. 

That concludes my statement. I am pleased to answer 

questions at the appropriate time. 

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing 

Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no changes in existing law are made by the bill as ordered reported. 

Æ 


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