Wyoming committee advances $hundreds million omnibus water construction bill after debate over LaPrele, Alkali Creek funding

The Agriculture, State & Public Lands & Water Resources Committee moved House Bill 117, the annual omnibus water construction bill, by a 9-0 roll-call vote after debate and amendments that addressed funding for LaPrele Dam and the Alkali Creek Reservoir.

The bill provides spending authority for projects selected by the Water Development Commission and the Select Water Committee. Jason Mead, director of the Wyoming Water Development Office, told the committee the construction bill lists projects, funding terms, grants and loans, amendments to prior appropriations, and transfers between the water development accounts. Mead said the Water Development Program is funded from part of the mineral severance tax distribution account and that each construction project has been vetted through planning studies before consideration.

Why it matters: HB117 authorizes the state to allocate construction funds and to set terms for grants and loans that will shape municipal and irrigation water systems across multiple basins. The bill includes several large rehabilitation and new-development projects, cloud-seeding programs, small water project grants and amendments to prior projects that together represent the largest statewide capital program the committee handles.

Mead highlighted several projects and program totals in the bill. Section 1 (new development, Account 1) lists three projects and a $5,583,343 subtotal for that block; Account 2 (rehabilitation) lists 12 projects and totals $17,094,331. The bill also contains 12 amendments to prior appropriations, including time extensions and additional funds for delayed projects.

LaPrele shortfall and Alkali Creek transfer

Mead told the committee the LaPrele Dam reconstruction has a current high-end cost estimate of about $182 million and that about $92 million of federal bipartisan infrastructure law funding administered by the Bureau of Reclamation is available for construction, leaving a…