I

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 769

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 27, 2000

Referred to the Committee on Resources

AN ACT

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’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds that—

3 (1) in 1980 and 1981, the Bureau of Reclama4 tion constructed the bascule gates on top of the

5 Dickinson Dam on the Heart River, North Dakota,

6 to provide additional water supply in the reservoir

7 known as Patterson Lake for the city of Dickinson,

8 North Dakota, and for additional flood control and

9 other benefits;

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

11 1982 because of damage resulting from a large ice

12 block causing excessive pressure on the hydraulic

13 system, causing the system to fail;

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

15 supply from the Southwest Water Authority, which

16 provides much higher quality water from the South17 west Pipeline Project;

18 (4) the City now receives almost no benefit

19 from the bascule gates because the City does not re20 quire the additional water provided by the bascule

21 gates for its municipal water supply;

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

23 to the United States for the construction of the bas24 cule gates, and has been working for several years

25 to reach an agreement with the Bureau of Reclama26 tion to alter its repayment contract;
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1 (6) the City has a longstanding commitment to

2 improving the water quality and recreation value of

3 the reservoir and has been working with the United

4 States Geological Survey, the North Dakota Depart5 ment of Game and Fish, and the North Dakota De6 partment of Health to improve water quality; and

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

8 issue by providing for a single payment to the

9 United States in lieu of the scheduled annual pay10 ments and for the termination of any further repay11 ment obligation.

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

13 In this Act:

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

15 gates’’ means the structure constructed on the Dam

16 to provide additional water storage capacity in the

17 Lake.

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

19 Dickinson, North Dakota.

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

21 Dam on the Heart River, North Dakota.

22 (4) LAKE.—The term ‘‘Lake’’ means the res23 ervoir known as ‘‘Patterson Lake’’ in the State of

24 North Dakota.
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1 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means

2 the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the

3 Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.

4 SEC. 4. FORGIVENESS OF DEBT.

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

6 time payment of $300,000 in lieu of the existing repay7 ment obligations of the City under the Bureau of Reclama8 tion Contract No. 9–07–60W0384, dated December 19,

9 1988, toward which amount any payments made by the

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

11 credited.

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

13 gates shall remain with the United States.

14 (c) COSTS.—(1) The Secretary shall enter into an

15 agreement with the City to allocate responsibilities for op16 eration and maintenance costs of the bascule gates as pro17 vided in this subsection.

18 (2) The City shall be responsible for operation and

19 maintenance costs of the bascule gates, up to a maximum

20 annual cost of $15,000. The Secretary shall be responsible

21 for all other costs.

22 (d) WATER SERVICE CONTRACTS.—The Secretary

23 may enter into appropriate water service contracts if the
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1 City or any other person or entity seeks to use water from

2 the Lake for municipal water supply or other purposes.

Passed the Senate November 19, 1999.

Attest: GARY SISCO,

Secretary.