[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2524 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2524

To insure adequate use and access to the existing Bolts Ditch headgate 
  and ditch segment within the Holy Cross Wilderness in Eagle County, 
                   Colorado, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 9, 2016

Mr. Gardner (for himself and Mr. Bennet) introduced the following bill; 
   which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and 
                           Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To insure adequate use and access to the existing Bolts Ditch headgate 
  and ditch segment within the Holy Cross Wilderness in Eagle County, 
                   Colorado, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Bolts Ditch Access and Use Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Since about 1882, the existing Bolts Ditch headgate and 
        ditch have been used to fill Bolts Lake near Minturn, Colorado, 
        by gravitational means, without need for pumping and the 
        attendant cost and energy use of pumping.
            (2) When the Holy Cross Wilderness was designated by 
        Congress in 1980, the Bolts Ditch headgate, and an approximate 
        450-foot segment of the Bolts Ditch, were inadvertently 
        included inside the Wilderness boundary.
            (3) The town of Minturn seeks to use its municipal water 
        rights to store water in Bolts Lake.
            (4) Questions have arisen with respect to continued use, 
        maintenance, and repair of the headgate and ditch segment 
        within the Wilderness.
            (5) Legislation is warranted to correct this situation and 
        authorize the continued use, access to, and maintenance and 
        repair of the Bolts Ditch headgate and small portion of the 
        Bolts Ditch that lie within the Wilderness boundary.

SEC. 3. BOLTS DITCH ACCESS.

    (a) Access Granted.--The Secretary of Agriculture shall permit by 
special use authorization nonmotorized access and use, in accordance 
with section 293.6 of title 36, Code of Federal Regulations, of the 
Bolts Ditch Headgate and the Bolts Ditch within the Holy Cross 
Wilderness, Colorado, as designated by Public Law 96-560, for the 
purposes of the diversion of water and use, maintenance, and repair of 
such ditch and headgate by the Town of Minturn, Colorado, a Colorado 
Home Rule Municipality.
    (b) Location of Facilities.--The Bolts Ditch headgate and ditch 
segment referenced in subsection (a) are as generally depicted on the 
map entitled ``Bolts Ditch headgate and Ditch Segment'', dated 
November, 2015.
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