[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 96 (Friday, July 21, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7450-S7451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. ALLARD:
  S. 2906. A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to enter 
into contracts with the city of Loveland, Colorado, to use Colorado-Big 
Thompson Project facilities for the impounding, storage, and carriage 
of nonproject water for domestic, municipal, industrial, and other 
beneficial purposes; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.


                  northern colorado water legislation

  Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I am pleased to take a step in addressing 
the long-term water needs of the northern Colorado citizens whose water 
is provided by the City of Loveland, Colorado. The bill I am 
introducing today authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to enter 
into contracts with the City of Loveland to utilize federal facilities 
of the original Colorado-Big Thompson Project for various purposes such 
as the storage and transportation of non-federal water originating on 
the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains and intended for domestic, 
municipal, industrial and other uses.
  Water supplies for Colorado cities are extremely limited. Whenever 
possible, cities attempt to use their water storage and conveyance 
systems in the most efficient ways they can. The City of Loveland is 
trying to use excess capacity in the federally built Colorado-Big 
Thompson conveyance facilities to deliver water to an enlarged city 
reservoir, but current law does not allow the City to use excess 
capacity in an existing Federal water delivery canal for domestic 
purposes.
  In this case, Loveland intends to convey up to 75 cubic feet per 
second of its native river water supply from the Big Thompson River to 
two city-owned facilities, Green Ridge Glade Reservoir and Chasteen 
Grove Water Treatment Plant. A contract with the Bureau of Reclamation 
and the Colorado-Big Thompson Project operator, Northern Colorado Water 
Conservancy District, will provide an economical and reliable means of 
delivering Loveland's native

[[Page S7451]]

river water supplies. The City of Loveland simply desires to ``wheel'' 
some of its drinking water supply through excess capacity in a canal 
serving Colorado-Big Thompson Project, a water project built by the 
Bureau of Reclamation from 1938 to 1957. Loveland is prepared to pay 
appropriate charges for the use of this facility. In addition, any 
contract affecting the Colorado-Big Thompson Project would be conducted 
in full compliance with all applicable environmental requirements. In 
fact, the Final Environmental Assessment on use of C-BT facilities to 
convey City of Loveland Water Supplies to an expanded Green Ridge Glade 
Reservoir has already been completed, and permits have been issued by 
the Army Corps of Engineers.
  Allowing Loveland to use the Colorado-Big Thompson Project should be 
a simple matter, but it is not. Legislation is required to allow the 
City to use the Federal water project for carriage of municipal and 
industrial water. Historically when a party has desired to use 
Reclamation project facilities for the storage or conveyance of non-
project water, the authority cited was the Act of February 21, 1911, 
known as the Warren Act. The Warren Act provides for the utilization of 
excess capacity in Reclamation project facilities to store non-project, 
irrigation water. Based on the current interpretation of Reclamation 
law, the Warren Act does not provide authority to enter into long-term 
storage or conveyance contracts for non-irrigation, non-project water 
in Colorado-Big Thompson Project facilities.
  Congress in recent years has expanded the scope of the Warren Act to 
apply to communities in California and Utah where there existed a need 
for more water management flexibility. The legislation I am introducing 
today is similar to other legislation introduced and passed in the 
recent Congresses. It will simply extend similar flexibility to the 
Colorado-Big Thompson Project and to the City of Loveland. Since there 
is precedent allowing the wheeling of non-federal water through federal 
facilities, this is a non-controversial piece of legislation. 
Therefore, I hope that Congress will move quickly to pass this 
legislation and I look forward to working closely with my colleagues on 
the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to move it quickly.
                                 ______