Key Wyoming provisions included in the 2016 Water Resources Development Act.

Ice-jam flooding in Worland (courtesy photo: City of Worland)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) praised passage of the bipartisan 2016 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) by a vote of 95 to 3.

The bill authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve and maintain dams, inland waterways, ports and projects to prevent flooding and ensure that communities have adequate water supplies.

Barrasso, a member of the committee that authored the bill, successfully included items for Wyoming that help increase water storage, improve dam safety in Indian Country and prevent ice-jam flooding, especially in rural communities. Ice jams – when frozen rivers thaw in the spring and the ice heads downstream – cause severe damage to levees.

“Communities like Worland and Greybull know firsthand how dangerous and destructive ice-jam flooding can be,” said Barrasso. “They also know about the out-of-control costs that come with severe floods. This provision will allow us to help develop innovative and cost-effective ways to prevent flooding.”

Many federal water-storage facilities in the West, including in Wyoming, are losing existing space due to sediment buildup.

Another provision Barrasso included in WRDA would create a pilot program targeting sediment buildup in existing U.S. Army Corps and Bureau of Reclamation water-storage facilities in the Upper Missouri River Basin.

“In the West, we’re constantly trying to find ways to expand water storage,” said Barrasso. “One of the best ways is to remove and prevent excess sediment buildup. Under this pilot project, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Army Corps will be able to partner with local communities to reduce sediment buildup in federal dams in Wyoming.”

Barrasso, who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, was also successful in including his bill, S. 2717, the Dam Repairs and Improvements for Tribes Act of 2016 (DRIFT Act) as a provision in WRDA. It addresses the deferred maintenance needs of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) dams, and reforms tribal programs within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that focus on flood mitigation and prevention in Native communities.

“I am glad the Senate has taken action to address the badly needed maintenance of dams in tribal communities,” said Barrasso. “This bill holds Washington accountable to maintain high-risk dams in Wyoming and across the country.”

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