To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to amend the Definite Plan Report for the Seedskadee Project to enable the use of the active capacity of the Fontenelle Reservoir.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Colorado and my colleague from Maryland for their support of this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I introduced H.R. 648 so that we could begin the work necessary to increase the active storage capacity of the Fontenelle Reservoir. As a headwater State, Wyoming takes care of its water, and we know that water is our most important natural resource. Water uses currently at this dam span the gamut from irrigation, domestic, industrial, municipal, fish and wildlife, and recreation. Power generation is a secondary purpose at the dam, and current uses also include industrial capacity for our trona miners, fertilizer producers, and fulfillment of a range of energy needs.

Mr. Speaker, this bill would simply authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to enter into a cooperative agreement with the State of Wyoming so that we could begin the process to study, design, and construct increased capacity for the reservoir. This is a process, Mr. Speaker, that has been held up previously by onerous NEPA requirements, and we need to move quickly so that we can begin to increase this capacity.

Currently the reservoir has 265,000 acre-feet to accommodate water as active capacity. This legislation would potentially add an additional 80,000 acre-feet of existing reservoir space. This bill would provide an affordable and efficient way to add more usable storage in the Colorado River Basin

and would accomplish these goals without contemplating the construction of a new dam. The bill has the support of the Wyoming Water Development Office and the Wyoming Water Development Commission, which develops our State's water resources for conservation, storage, distribution, recreation, and other public interests. Our Governor Matt Mead included this concept in the 2015 Wyoming water strategy.

Mr. Speaker, this bill will empower Wyoming to better utilize our water allocation and improve our water storage, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 648) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to amend the Definite Plan Report for the Seedskadee Project to enable the use of the active capacity of the Fontenelle Reservoir.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 648, sponsored by the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. Cheney), allows the State of Wyoming to increase the active storage capacity for the Fontenelle Dam and Reservoir located in southwest Wyoming. The bill allows the State to enter into agreements with the Federal Government to study, design, plan, and perform construction activities to accomplish this goal. Wyoming will pay for any and all costs associated with these activities.

This bill, which passed the House without objection in the last Congress when it was sponsored by our former colleague Cynthia Lummis, simply empowers Wyoming to better utilize its Colorado River water allocation through improved water storage at no cost to the Federal Government. I urge my colleagues to support this commonsense bill.

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of the measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Wyoming (Ms. Cheney).

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 648 would increase the amount of water that can be stored in the Fontenelle Reservoir in Lincoln County, Wyoming, by allowing the active storage capacity of the reservoir to be used. This bill has been written in a balanced manner that respects existing laws, compacts, and treaties, and does not attempt to expand Wyoming's entitlement to Colorado River supplies at the expense of other Colorado River Basin States.

H.R. 648 is a straightforward, noncontroversial piece of legislation that is identical to a bill that was unanimously passed by the Committee on Natural Resources last Congress. I support H.R. 648 and urge its adoption.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on March 15, 2017, I missed the voting session. If present, I would have voted as follows:

YES--H.R. 132--Arbuckle Project Maintenance Complex and District Office Conveyance Act of 2017

YES--H.R. 648--To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to amend the Definite Plan Report for the Seedskadee Project to enable the use of the active capacity of the Fontenelle Reservoir

YES--Motion to Table the Appeal of the Ruling of the Chair

Mr. Speaker, on March 15, 2017, I was unable to be present for the recorded votes on roll call no. 159, 160, and 161. Had I been present, I would have voted as follows: