S. 199 would authorize the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) to plan and construct a project to expand water storage at Fontenelle Dam and Reservoir in southwestern Wyoming. Under current law, the amount of water storage available to the state of Wyoming at the reservoir is the difference between full capacity and the lowest water level that allows all of the authorized purposes of the Fontenelle project to be performed. Under the bill, the BOR would coordinate with the state of Wyoming to design and construct modifications to the Fontenelle Dam and Reservoir to allow the project to operate at a lower water level, thus expanding the amount of storage available to the state. S. 199 also would require the state to contribute 100 percent of the costs to design and construct the project. Those contributions would be classified as offsetting receipts, which are treated as reductions in direct spending, and would subsequently be spent without further appropriation.
Enacting S. 199 would increase receipts and the associated direct spending; therefore, pay-as-you-go procedures apply. However, CBO estimates that the net effect on the budget would be negligible. Enacting the bill would not affect revenues.
CBO also estimates that enacting the bill would not increase net direct spending or on-budget deficits in any of the four consecutive 10-year periods beginning in 2028.
S. 199 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and would benefit the state of Wyoming. Any costs incurred by the state to fund the project or participate in cooperative agreements would result from complying with conditions of federal assistance.
