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Select Water Committee recommends planning and construction contracts, approves small water grants
Summary
The committee reviewed and recommended planning study contracts and construction agreements that were approved in the recent omnibus water bills and approved a slate of small water project grants; no roll-call votes were recorded in the transcript.
The Select Water Committee recommended contracts for planning studies and construction projects that were previously authorized in the recently completed omnibus water bills and approved a slate of small water project grants from the Small Water Project Program.
Jason Meade, director of the Water Development Office, summarized the planning study and consultant selection process and said the projects before the committee had already been vetted and appropriated in the 2025 omnibus planning and construction bills: “All of these projects that we're talking about this morning were either in the omnibus water bill planning or the omnibus water bill construction in the session that we just ended.” Meade outlined the office’s selection process, which includes sponsor applications, shortlisting consultants, interviews and commission review.
Meade noted the planning contracts now before the committee come from last year’s selection process and the committee’s statutory duty is to review and recommend the contracts to the Water Development Commission. On that basis the committee moved to consider the planning contracts in a block and approved the recommendation.
Meade then described the construction contracts programmed in the omnibus water bill. He identified the Bighorn Regional Joint Powers Board South Transmission Project as an example and described a 50% grant of $405,000 associated with that project. The committee approved the construction agreements in a subsequent voice vote.
On Alkali Creek Reservoir — a project raised by Representative Lalley and other members — Meade said the previously appropriated $59 million remained allocated and that the project is approximately 50% through design. “The LISRA funding is gonna be used in full for LaPrelle Dam and the funding for Alkali Creek Reservoir remains intact at 59,000,000,” Meade said. He added that the previously scheduled reversion date of July 1, 2025, was extended one year to July 1, 2026, and that easements remain to be secured before further construction.
Jody Pavlika, small water project program manager, presented the Small Water Project Program recommendations. She described program basics — “The purpose of this program is to provide a 50% grant up to $35,000 for small water projects that improve watershed health and function” — and summarized account 1 and account 2 project lists, prioritization rules and shovel-ready status for some projects. She also noted one recently withdrawn project (Frank’s Fork East Stock Tank).
For account 1 small water projects the committee approved a block recommendation after a motion to approve the list (with Frank’s Fork withdrawn). For account 2 projects the committee approved the recommended funded projects and left a number marked “do not fund” due to limited funds; Pavlika explained do-not-fund sponsors were encouraged to return with shovel-ready projects next year.
Committee members used voice and hand votes for the recommendations; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript. The committee scheduled its joint May meeting with the Water Development Commission in Cheyenne and discussed an August tour in the Rock Springs/Green River area focused on trona mining operations.
