II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 769

To provide a final settlement on certain debt owed by the city of Dickinson,

North Dakota, for construction of the bascule gates on the Dickinson Dam.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 13, 1999

Mr. CONRAD (for himself and Mr. DORGAN) introduced the following bill;

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

A BILL

To provide a final settlement on certain debt owed by the

city of Dickinson, North Dakota, for construction of

the bascule gates on the Dickinson Dam.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dickinson Dam Bas5 cule Gates Settlement Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) in 1980 and 1981, the Bureau of Reclama9 tion constructed the bascule gates on top of the
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1 Dickinson Dam on the Heart River, North Dakota,

2 to provide additional water supply in the reservoir

3 known as Patterson Lake for the city of Dickinson,

4 North Dakota, and for additional flood control and

5 other benefits;

6 (2) the gates had to be significantly modified in

7 1982 because of damage resulting from a large ice

8 block causing excessive pressure on the hydraulic

9 system, causing the system to fail;

10 (3) since 1991, the City has received its water

11 supply from the Southwest Water Authority, which

12 provides much higher quality water from the South13 west Pipeline Project;

14 (4) the City now receives almost no benefit

15 from the bascule gates because the City does not re16 quire the additional water provided by the bascule

17 gates for its municipal water supply;

18 (5) the City has repaid more than $1,200,000

19 to the United States for the construction of the bas20 cule gates, and has been working for several years

21 to reach an agreement with the Bureau of Reclama22 tion to alter its repayment contract;

23 (6) the City has a longstanding commitment to

24 improving the water quality and recreation value of

25 the reservoir and has been working with the United
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1 States Geological Survey, the North Dakota Depart2 ment of Game and Fish, and the North Dakota De3 partment of Health to improve water quality; and

4 (7) it is in the public interest to resolve this

5 issue by providing for a single payment to the

6 United States in lieu of the scheduled annual pay7 ments and for the termination of any further repay8 ment obligation.

9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

10 In this Act:

11 (1) BASCULE GATES.—The term ‘‘bascule

12 gates’’ means the structure constructed on the Dam

13 to provide additional water storage capacity in the

14 Lake.

15 (2) CITY.—The term ‘‘City’’ means the city of

16 Dickinson, North Dakota.

17 (3) DAM.—The term ‘‘Dam’’ means Dickinson

18 Dam on the Heart River, North Dakota.

19 (4) LAKE.—The term ‘‘Lake’’ means the res20 ervoir known as ‘‘Patterson Lake’’ in the State of

21 North Dakota.

22 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

23 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the

24 Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.
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1 SEC. 4. FORGIVENESS OF DEBT.

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept a 1-

3 time payment of $300,000 in lieu of the existing repay4 ment obligations of the City under the Bureau of Reclama5 tion Contract No. 9–07–60W0384, dated December 19,

6 1988, toward which amount any payments made by the

7 City to the Secretary on or after June 2, 1998, shall be

8 credited.

9 (b) OWNERSHIP.—Title to the Dam and bascule

10 gates shall remain with the United States.

11 (c) COSTS.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—In consultation with the City

13 and the State of North Dakota, the Secretary shall

14 reallocate responsibility for the operation and main15 tenance costs of the Dam and bascule gates.

16 (2) CONSIDERATION OF BENEFITS.—The re17 allocation of costs shall reflect the fact that the ben18 efits of the Dam and bascule gates are mainly for

19 flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife pur20 poses.

21 (d) WATER SERVICE CONTRACTS.—The Secretary

22 may enter into appropriate water service contracts if the

23 City or any other person or entity seeks to use water from

24 the Lake for municipal water supply or other purposes.

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