Dam hearing held in D.C.

A hearing to examine legislation on the Wallowa Lake dam introduced by U.S. Rep. Greg Walden was held by the Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power Wednesday this week in Washington, D.C.

The legislation would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to make improvements to the dam, as well as implement other water-related improvements in the Wallowa Valley.

Walden’s legislation is titled the Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation and Water Management Act of 2004 (HR 3747).

Scheduled as witnesses to offer testimony on the legislation were John Keys, Commissioner, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; David Hockett, project manager of the Associated Ditch Companies, Inc.; Gordon Wolfe, president of the Wallowa Valley Agricultural Water Users Association; and Aileen Roder, program director of Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Citizens interested in submitting written testimony concerning this legislation may do so by sending remarks to water.power@mail.house.gov for 10 business days following the March 24 hearing.

Hydroelectric component stricken from dam project

When the Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation project unanimously passed out of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Energy and Natural Resources March 10 it was not without compromise.

One aspect of the proposed $32 million project, the provision that called for a hydroelectric facility at the dam, was stricken from the text, thus reducing the total cost of the project by an estimated $6 million.

Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith (R) remains optimistic that the dam project which he and Sen. Ron Wyden (D) of Oregon cosponsored in the U.S. Senate June 26, 2003, will be funded in spite of the fact that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has gone on record in opposition to the project on grounds that the Wallowa Lake Dam is privately-owned.

Tucker Bounds, a Washington, D.C., spokesman for Smith, had no idea when SB 1355 would receive consideration on the senate floor, but did not think that it was considered to be “a controversial bill.”

With the hydropower portion of the bill removed, SB1355 focuses on dam rehabilitation, water management downstream and fish issues.

The Wallowa Lake Dam Rehabilitation bill passed out of the Senate one year ago but was not acted upon by the House of Representatives before the legislative session ended. Oregon Rep. Greg Walden (R) has again introduced a companion bill in the House, HR 3747.

Both Smith and Wyden sit on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, a committee that includes 23 senators.