Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation and Water Management Act of 2005
Key claim: A 2005 Senate bill would let Interior pay up to 80% of the cost to rehab Oregon’s Wallowa Lake Dam and related fish-passage and water-conservation work, without the U.S. owning or operating the facilities.
Abstract
(S231 · 109th Congress) (This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary of that version is repeated here.) Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation and Water Management Act of 2005 - Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to provide grants to, or enter into cooperative or other agreements with, tribal, state, and local governmental entities and the Associated Ditch Companies, Incorporated (ADC) (nonprofit corporation that operates the Wallowa Lake Dam) to plan, design, and construct facilities needed to implement the Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation Program and Phase II (fish passage improvements and water conservation measures) and Phase III (implementation of water exchange infrastructure) of the Wallowa Valley Water Management Plan. Directs the Secretary, as a condition of providing funds, to ensure that: (1) the Rehabilitation Program meets the standards of the dam safety program of Oregon; (2) ADC agrees to assume liability for any work performed or supervised with funds provided to it under this Act; and (3) the United States shall not be liable for damages arising out of any act relating to a facility rehabilitated or constructed under this Act. Limits the federal share of the cost of activities authorized under this Act to 80%. Prohibits the federal government from holding title to, or being responsible for the operation and maintenance of, any facility rehabilitated or constructed under this Act. Permits only the Nez Perce Tribe to own and operate any facility constructed using federal funds authorized by this Act located at the Dam for trapping and transportation of migratory adult salmon. Latest action (2005-08-02): Referred to the Subcommittee on Water and Power.
Why this matters
A 2005 Senate bill would let Interior pay up to 80% of the cost to rehab Oregon’s Wallowa Lake Dam and related fish-passage and water-conservation work, without the U.S. owning or operating the facilities.