House committee advances $5.6M in new water-development projects, adds emergency measures for LaPrelle irrigators

The Wyoming House Committee of the Whole voted to advance House Bill 117, an omnibus water-construction bill that packages dozens of water projects statewide and includes measures aimed at communities affected by the LaPrelle Dam reconstruction.

The bill, which the Select Water Committee shepherded through the interim, contains new development and rehabilitation projects totaling millions of dollars and several account transfers. Representative Larson JT, who presented the bill on the floor, said the measure “invest[s] in our water infrastructure across the state” and asked members to query project details at the mic or consult the binders provided by local communities and the Water Development Office.

Members debated several floor amendments tied to LaPrelle — the irrigation district where dam work will remove reservoir storage during reconstruction — and a standing-committee amendment that would set aside money to investigate and, if feasible, construct wells to supply irrigators while the dam is replaced. Representative Banks, vice chair of the committee, described the standing-committee amendment as intended to “supplement some of their irrigation needs during that construction time”…