Federal official says users responsible for levee fixes

WASHINGTON -- The government has only a limited responsibility to repair or replace aging dams, canals and levees that were contracted to local authorities years ago, a top federal official said Thursday.

On projects transferred to local control, "in most cases the arrangement calls for those costs to be the responsibility of the water users," Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Robert Johnson said at a Senate hearing that focused in part on the collapse of the Truckee Canal in January.

The breach in the 100-year-old levee flooded 590 homes in Fernley. The earthen embankment has been managed by the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District since the 1920s.

Fernley Mayor Todd Cutler testified the Bureau of Reclamation as the owner and the irrigation district as the operator should share repair costs of the levee "with the idea that it provides us life."

"The canal feeds a great deal of people. With that said, it is a federal facility," he said.

Depending on the level of repair deemed necessary, the costs could range from $28 million to $390 million, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.

Johnson told members of the Senate water and power subcommittee the levee was inspected in 2006.

"Looking at that, we identified no deficiencies associated with the region of the canal with the failure," he said.

The Bureau of Reclamation owns 7,911 miles of canals in 17 Western states, with most of them managed and operated by local irrigation and water districts.

Several senators, including Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Larry Craig, R-Idaho, said the bureau should bear at least a share of the cost of repairs for disasters such as the one at Fernley.

Requiring someone who leases federal property to pay for repairs would be like requiring a renter to replace the roof of a condominium, said Thomas Donnelly, vice president of the National Water Resources Association.

"It would be like me owning a condo and the roof blows off; you would pay for water and power, but I would pay to replace the roof," Donnelly said.

The Truckee-Carson Irrigation District is proposing a $1.50 per acre tax assessment on residents to help pay for modernization needed for the canal to return to full capacity. District officials estimate the tax will raise about $300,000 per year.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in testimony the Bureau of Reclamation "cannot completely abandon its legacy."

Contact Stephens Washington Bureau reporter Sara Spivey at sspivey@stephensmedia.com or 202-783-17600.