I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3401
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
NOVEMBER 16, 1999
Mr. POMEROY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Dickinson Dam Bas-
cule Gates Settlement Act of 1999’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that—
(1) in 1980 and 1981, the Bureau of Reclama-
tion constructed the bascule gates on top of the
Dickinson Dam on the Heart River, North Dakota,
to provide additional water supply in the reservoir
known as Patterson Lake for the city of Dickinson,
North Dakota, and for additional flood control and
other benefits;
(2) the gates had to be significantly modified in
1982 because of damage resulting from a large ice
block causing excessive pressure on the hydraulic
system, causing the system to fail;
(3) since 1991, the City has received its water
supply from the Southwest Water Authority, which
provides much higher quality water from the South-
west Pipeline Project;
(4) the City now receives almost no benefit
from the bascule gates because the City does not re-
quire the additional water provided by the bascule
gates for its municipal water supply;
(5) the City has repaid more than $1,200,000
to the United States for the construction of the bas-
cule gates, and has been working for several years
to reach an agreement with the Bureau of Reclama-
tion to alter its repayment contract;
(6) the City has a longstanding commitment to
improving the water quality and recreation value of
the reservoir and has been working with the United
States Geological Survey, the North Dakota Depart-
ment of Game and Fish, and the North Dakota De-
partment of Health to improve water quality; and
(7) it is in the public interest to resolve this
issue by providing for a single payment to the
United States in lieu of the scheduled annual pay-
ments and for the termination of any further repay-
ment obligation.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) BASCULE
GATES.—The term ‘‘bascule
gates’’ means the structure constructed on the Dam
to provide additional water storage capacity in the
Lake.
(2) CITY.—The term ‘‘City’’ means the city of
Dickinson, North Dakota.
(3) DAM.—The term ‘‘Dam’’ means Dickinson
Dam on the Heart River, North Dakota.
(4) LAKE.—The term ‘‘Lake’’ means the res-
ervoir known as ‘‘Patterson Lake’’ in the State of
North Dakota.
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the
Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.
SEC. 4. FORGIVENESS OF DEBT.
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall accept a 1-
time payment of $300,000 in lieu of the existing repay-
ment obligations of the City under the Bureau of Reclama-
tion Contract No. 9–07–60W0384, dated December 19,
1988, toward which amount any payments made by the
City to the Secretary on or after June 2, 1998, shall be
credited.
(b) OWNERSHIP.—Title to the Dam and bascule
gates shall remain with the United States.
(c) COSTS.—(1) The Secretary shall enter into an
agreement with the City to allocate responsibilities for op-
eration and maintenance costs of the bascule gates as pro-
vided in this subsection.
(2) The City shall be responsible for operation and
maintenance costs of the bascule gates, up to a maximum
annual cost of $15,000. The Secretary shall be responsible
for all other costs.
(d) WATER SERVICE CONTRACTS.—The Secretary
may enter into appropriate water service contracts if the
City or any other person or entity seeks to use water from
the Lake for municipal water supply or other purposes.
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