2005 Legislation
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HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 1 – Bear Lake, flood control study

HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 1

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HJM001........................................by RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION
BEAR LAKE - Stating findings of the Legislature and urging the Congress of
the United States and the Idaho, Utah and Wyoming delegations in Congress
to support, work to pass and vote for legislation that will authorize and
fund a feasibility study by the United States Corps of Engineers relating
to the possibilities, benefits and costs of providing flood control above
Bear Lake; and further urging Congress to allow and approve past local
expenditures, equivalent to fifty percent of the total cost of the study,
as the required local match.
                                                                        
02/01    House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/02    Rpt prt - to Res/Con
02/08    Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/09    2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/10    3rd rdg - ADOPTED - voice vote
    Floor Sponsor - Wood
    Title apvd - to Senate
02/11    Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Res/Env
02/21    Rpt out - rec d/p - to 10th Ord
02/22    10th Ord - ADOPTED - voice vote
    Floor Sponsor - President Pro Tempore Geddes
    Title apvd - to House
02/23    To enrol
02/24    Rpt enrol - Sp signed
02/25    Pres signed
02/28    To Secretary of State

Bill Text


                                                                        
                                                                        
  ]]]]              LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO             ]]]]
 Fifty-eighth Legislature                   First Regular Session - 2005
                                                                        
                                                                        
                              IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
                                                                        
                                 HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 1
                                                                        
                          BY RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
                                                                        
  1                                   A JOINT MEMORIAL
  2    TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED  STATES  IN  CONGRESS
  3        ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATIONS REPRESENTING THE STATES OF
  4        IDAHO, UTAH AND WYOMING IN THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES.
                                                                        
  5        We,  your Memorialists, the House of Representatives and the Senate of the
  6    State of Idaho assembled in the First  Regular  Session  of  the  Fifty-eighth
  7    Idaho Legislature, do hereby respectfully represent that:
                                                                        
  8        WHEREAS,  the  ongoing  drought  in  the state of Idaho has had a profound
  9    impact throughout the state, including the area of southeastern Idaho known as
 10    the Bear River Basin. Although inadequate, during times of high water such  as
 11    spring runoff, Bear Lake is the major reservoir for containing flood waters of
 12    the Bear River within the Bear River Basin. The effects of drought in the Bear
 13    River  Basin  would  be significantly reduced in the event alternative storage
 14    sites were available; and
 15        WHEREAS, the Bear River Basin encompasses 7,400 square  miles  with  2,700
 16    square  miles  in  the state of Idaho. Originating in Utah's Uintah Mountains,
 17    the Bear River crosses state boundaries five times, has tributaries in  Idaho,
 18    Utah and Wyoming, and ultimately discharges into the Great Salt Lake; and
 19        WHEREAS,  the Bear River did not naturally divert into Bear Lake. The Utah
 20    Sugar Company and the Telluride Power Company first proposed diversion of  the
 21    Bear  River  into  Bear Lake for water storage in 1898. That project was taken
 22    over by Utah Power and Light Company for the purpose of producing  hydropower.
 23    The  project, which included a diversion dam on the Bear River, a canal, and a
 24    pumping station was completed in 1918; and
 25        WHEREAS, a multistate compact  between  the  states  of  Idaho,  Utah  and
 26    Wyoming, known as the Bear River Compact, was entered into in 1958 and amended
 27    in  1980. The Compact governs the operation of the Bear River and, for manage-
 28    ment purposes, the Compact divides the river into three  segments.  The  three
 29    segments  are  known  as  the Upper Division, located in Utah and Wyoming, the
 30    Central Division, located in  Wyoming  and  Idaho,  and  the  Lower  Division,
 31    located in Idaho and Utah. The Bear River Commission, made up of three members
 32    from  each of the Compact states, a chairman appointed by the President of the
 33    United States, and an engineer/manager, manages the  day-to-day  operation  of
 34    the river; and
 35        WHEREAS,  as a result of two lawsuits against Utah Power and Light Company
 36    during the 1970's, which claimed damage to crops due  to  flooding  along  the
 37    Bear  River,  the  power  company  is under court order to keep the Bear River
 38    within its banks. Based on the court order, in the event the irrigation season
 39    ends with Bear Lake above 5,918 feet in elevation,  water  is  released  down-
 40    stream to make room in Bear Lake for the spring runoff; and
 41        WHEREAS,  since  the  1970's,  millions  of  acre  feet of water have been
 42    released to provide capacity for flood control. Releases carry  the  river  as
 43    well  as the surface water removed from Bear Lake downstream to the Great Salt
 44    Lake where the principal beneficiary is the Great  Salt  Lake  ecosystem.  The
                                                                        
                                           2
                                                                        
  1    most recent releases were in 1997, 1998 and 1999; and
  2        WHEREAS,  lowering  the  elevation  of Bear Lake in the Lower Division for
  3    flood control also impacts water users in the  Upper  and  Central  Divisions.
  4    Under the Compact, Woodruff Narrows Reservoir located in the Upper Division is
  5    not  allowed  to  fill whenever the elevation of Bear Lake is below 5,911 feet
  6    above sea level, affecting both ground and surface  water  in  that  area.  In
  7    addition,  when  Woodruff Narrows Reservoir is not full, no water is available
  8    for irrigation in a ten mile stretch of river in the Central Division  leaving
  9    irrigators in that area without water for their crops; and
 10        WHEREAS,  dredging  has been necessary to provide water for irrigation due
 11    to low lake levels; and
 12        WHEREAS, studies to date have shown that use of Bear Lake for  flood  con-
 13    trol  has resulted in tons of suspended sediment solids to be deposited in the
 14    lake during the spring runoff. This is highly detrimental  to  the  ecosystem.
 15    Increases  in  algae blooms on Bear Lake due to nitrates being carried in have
 16    been documented; and
 17        WHEREAS, in the event the water had not been released in the  interest  of
 18    flood  control,  it is likely that Bear Lake would now be full or nearly full.
 19    In that event, it is probable that there would be no need to pump water out of
 20    Bear Lake for irrigation because there would be enough capacity to  allow  the
 21    water to flow out by gravity, there would be no need to dredge in Bear Lake in
 22    that  the elevation of the lake would be high enough to make dredging unneces-
 23    sary, and an elevation above 5,911 feet would allow upstream  storage  at  the
 24    Woodruff Narrows Reservoir; and
 25        WHEREAS,  extremely  low levels in Bear Lake could cause a water emergency
 26    to be declared by the state of Utah. The  declaration  would  lead  to  closer
 27    scrutiny of the natural flow rights administered under the interstate account-
 28    ing  system.  The  lack  of  adequate storage water to supplement natural flow
 29    could result in the curtailment of rights in Idaho; and
 30        WHEREAS, if alternate storage sites were available, several hundred  thou-
 31    sand acre feet of water would still be in Bear Lake to mitigate the effects of
 32    the  drought.  Pursuant  to the Bear River Compact, Idaho is entitled to store
 33    approximately 125,000 acre feet of water annually and Utah about 390,000  acre
 34    feet  annually. Provided adequate storage, this water, which is usually avail-
 35    able during the spring runoff, could be stored to prevent any flooding of  the
 36    Bear  River. The water could then be used for irrigation, domestic and commer-
 37    cial development and recreation. A reservoir above Bear Lake would allow chem-
 38    icals to be neutralized and suspended solids to settle out that are now enter-
 39    ing Bear Lake. Alternative storage sites would provide for  the  conservation,
 40    preservation and best utilization of the water to which the state is entitled.
 41    This storage is desperately needed to allow residential, commercial and munic-
 42    ipal  development  in the Bear River drainage without reducing irrigated agri-
 43    cultural lands; and
 44        WHEREAS, flood control above Bear Lake would make possible a  policy  that
 45    Bear Lake would be the first to fill and the last to empty. This would provide
 46    more  water  for  irrigation,  minimize  fluctuations  of lake levels, improve
 47    spawning habitat for Bear Lake cutthroat trout, provide  boat-launching  capa-
 48    bility  at Idaho state parks, and allow the filling of Woodruff Narrows Reser-
 49    voir. Flood control above Bear Lake would greatly benefit the economy  of  all
 50    three states in the Bear River drainage; and
 51        WHEREAS,  the  United States Army Corps of Engineers is the federal agency
 52    responsible for flood control. The Corps has indicated a willingness  to  con-
 53    duct  a  feasibility  study of possible water storage sites upstream from Bear
 54    Lake which could be used for flood control of the Bear  River.  Costs  of  the
 55    study could range from $600,000 to $2,000,000 depending on the areas the study
                                                                        
                                           3
                                                                        
  1    would include. The study will require an equal match of federal and nonfederal
  2    funds.  However,  with  congressional approval, past local expenditures may be
  3    used as the local match; and
  4        WHEREAS, past local expenditures that have been made include  $174,000  by
  5    the  state  of  Wyoming  for  the Cokeville Reservoir project on Smith's Fork,
  6    $350,000 by the state of Wyoming for the Bear River Plan and  over  $2,000,000
  7    of state funds from Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah through the Bear River Commission
  8    for stream gaging; and
  9        WHEREAS, concerned citizens of the Bear River drainage, including the Bear
 10    Lake  County  Commission,  the Bear Lake Regional Commission, Bear Lake Watch,
 11    Inc., and Love Bear Lake, Inc., are asking for Congressional approval to  rec-
 12    ognize  past  expenditures  as  the local match to make the Corps of Engineers
 13    feasibility study possible.
 14        NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the members of the First Regular Session
 15    of the Fifty-eighth Idaho Legislature, the House of  Representatives  and  the
 16    Senate  concurring  therein,  that  we  respectfully  urge the Congress of the
 17    United States and our Idaho delegation,  as  well  as  the  Utah  and  Wyoming
 18    delegations  in  Congress,  to  support, work to pass and vote for legislation
 19    that will authorize and fund a feasibility study by the United States Corps of
 20    Engineers relating to the possibilities, benefits and costs of providing flood
 21    control above Bear Lake.
 22        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we urge Congress to  allow  and  approve  past
 23    local  expenditures,  equivalent  to  fifty  percent  of the total cost of the
 24    study, as the required local match and that local expenditures to  be  allowed
 25    and approved include $174,000 by the state of Wyoming for the Cokeville Reser-
 26    voir  project  on  Smith's Fork, $350,000 by the state of Wyoming for the Bear
 27    River Plan and $2,000,000 of state funds from Idaho,  Wyoming,  and  Utah  for
 28    stream gaging.
 29        BE  IT  FURTHER  RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the House of Representa-
 30    tives be, and she is hereby authorized and directed to forward a copy of  this
 31    Memorial to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Repre-
 32    sentatives  of  Congress,  and  the congressional delegations representing the
 33    states of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming in the Congress of the United States.

Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact



                       STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
                             RS 14657

A memorial to Congress and to the states of Wyoming and Utah and
to the Idaho Congressional Delegation requesting that past
investments in recent years by local government and the three
states, be considered as the local match to make the requested
Corps of Engineers feasibility study possible.  That the three
states delegations work together to support, work to pass, and
vote for legislation that will authorize and fund a feasibility
study by the United States Corps of Engineers relating to the
possibilities, benefits and costs of providing flood control
above Bear Lake.


                             FISCAL NOTE

We are asking that the past sums spent already, be the local
match for Federal funds to be spent for the study.

Wyoming invested:             $174,000
                              $350,000
Idaho, Utah, Wyoming        $2,000,000

                            $2,524,000



Contact
Name:  Rep. JoAn Wood 
       Rep. Larry Bradford
       Sen. Robert Geddes Jr.
Phone: 332-1111




STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE                    HJM 1