[Senate Report 108-327]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 683
108th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 2d Session                                                     108-327

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                     LAKE NIGHTHORSE REDESIGNATION

                                _______
                                

                August 25, 2004.--Ordered to be printed

   Filed, under authority of the order of the Senate of July 22, 2004

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Domenici, from the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                         [To accompany S. 2508]


    The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, to which was 
referred the bill (S. 2508) to redesignate the Ridges Basin 
Reservoir, Colorado, as Lake Nighthorse, having considered the 
same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment and 
recommends that the bill, as amended, do pass.
    The amendment is as follows:
    On page 1, line 5, insert ``Basin Creek, a tributary of '' 
before ``the Animas River''.

                         PURPOSE OF THE MEASURE

    The purpose of S. 2508 is to rename the Ridges Basin 
Reservoir in Colorado for Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell.

                          BACKGROUND AND NEED

    The Ridges Basin Reservoir is part of the Animas La Plata 
Project in southwestern Colorado. It is being built by the 
Bureau of Reclamation south of Durango, Colorado to store water 
from the Animas River, which is a tributary of the San Juan and 
Colorado Rivers. When completed in 2009, the reservoir will 
hold 120,000 acre-feet of water and will have a surface area of 
nearly 1,500 acres.
    The Animas La Plata Project was first authorized on a much 
larger scale by the Colorado River Basin Act of 1968, Public 
Law 90-537. Work on the Project was delayed, for various 
reasons, for decades. In the meantime, Congress enacted the 
Colorado Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988, Public 
Law 100-585, to resolve the senior water rights claims of the 
Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Indian Tribes of Colorado.
    In 1988, the Department of the Interior proposed 
construction of a substantially scaled-down project to address 
the long-standing water rights claims of the Colorado Ute 
Tribes, as well as the municipal and industrial needs of other 
water users, including the Navajo Nation and non-Indian water 
districts, in Colorado and New Mexico. Congress authorized 
construction of the scaled-down Animas La Plata Project in the 
Colorado Ute Settlement Act Amendments of 2000, and 
construction began in November 2001. The principal component of 
the scaled-down project will be the Ridges Basin Reservoir.
    S. 2508 renames the Ridges Basin Reservoir the ``Lake 
Nighthorse'' in honor of Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell. 
Senator Campbell was the principal author of both the Colorado 
Ute Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 1988 (while he was a 
Member of the House of Representatives) and the Colorado Ute 
Settlement Act Amendments of 2000. The Committee believes that 
renaming the Ridges Basin Reservoir for Senator Campbell is a 
fitting tribute to the instrumental role he played in the 
Colorado Ute settlement and the construction of the Animas La 
Plata Project, and to his service in the United States 
Congress.

                          LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

    S. 2508 was introduced by Senator Domenici on June 7, 2004 
and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. 
Senator Allard is a cosponsor. The Subcommittee on Water and 
Power held a hearing on S. 2508 on June 17, 2004. The Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources ordered S. 2508, as amended, 
favorably reported on July 14, 2004.

                        COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

    The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, in an 
open business meeting on July14, 2004, by a voice vote of a 
quorum present, recommends that the Senate pass S. 2508, if amended as 
described herein. Senator Campbell abstained from voting on S. 2508.

                          COMMITTEE AMENDMENT

    During the consideration of S. 2508, the Committee adopted 
an amendment that clarifies the location of the reservoir.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    Section 1 renames the Ridges Basin Reservoir in Colorado 
``Lake Nighthorse.''
    Section 2 requires that any reference to the reservoir 
shall be a reference to ``Lake Nighthorse.''

                   COST AND BUDGETARY CONSIDERATIONS

    The following estimate of costs of this measure has been 
provided by the Congressional Budget Office:

                       Congressional Budget Office,
                                             U.S. Congress,
                                     Washington, DC, July 16, 2004.
Hon. Pete V. Domenici,
Chairman, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. Chairman: The Congressional Budget Office has 
prepared the enclosed cost estimate for S. 2508, a bill to 
redesignate the Ridges Basin Reservoir, Colorado, as Lake 
Nighthorse.
    If you wish further details on this estimate, we will be 
pleased to provide them. The CBO staff contact is Julie 
Middleton.
            Sincerely,
                                       Douglas Holtz-Eakin,
                                                          Director.
    Enclosure.

S. 2508--A bill to redesignate the Ridges Basin Reservoir, Colorado, as 
        Lake Nighthorse

    S. 2508 would rename the Ridges Basin Reservoir located on 
Basin Creek, a tributary to the Animas River in Colorado. The 
new name of the reservoir would be Lake Nighthorse. CBO 
estimates that implementing the bill would have no significant 
impact on the federal budget; the bill would not affect direct 
spending or revenues.
    S. 2508 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local or tribal 
governments.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Julie Middleton. 
This estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy 
Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                      REGULATORY IMPACT EVALUATION

    In compliance with paragraph 11(b) of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee makes the following 
evaluation of the regulatory impact which would be incurred in 
carrying out S. 2508. The bill is not a regulatory measure in 
the sense of imposing Government-established standards or 
significant responsibilities on private individuals and 
businesses.
    No personal information would be collected in administering 
the program. Therefore, there would be no impact on personal 
privacy.
    Little, if any, additional paperwork would result from the 
enactment of S. 2508.

                        EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

    On June 16, 2004, the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources requested legislative reports from the Department of 
Interior and the Office of Management and Budget setting forth 
executive views on S. 2508. These reports had not been received 
at the time the report on S. 2508 was filed. When the reports 
become available, the Chairman will request that they be 
printed in the Congressional Record for the advice of the 
Senate. No testimony was provided by the Department of the 
Interior at the Subcommittee hearing.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    In compliance with paragraph 12 of rule XXVI of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee notes that no 
changes in existing law are made by the bill S. 2508, as 
ordered reported.

                                  
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