Crystal Reservoir Conveyance Act
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill requires the Forest Service to transfer Crystal Reservoir and related land, facilities, and water rights to the City of Ouray, Colorado. The city must maintain the property, keep it available as open space and for public recreation without fees, avoid most development or commercial use, and use the property consistently with the bill or risk the land reverting to the federal government.
Who Benefits and How
The City of Ouray benefits because it receives ownership and operational control of the reservoir site and related water rights. Local residents and visitors benefit because the bill requires the city to preserve public recreation and open-space access without charging entry fees.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The city bears the burden of maintenance, repair, and compliance with the bill’s use restrictions after conveyance. The Forest Service must execute the transfer and related surveying and documentation, while losing direct control over the site.
Key Provisions
- Transfers Crystal Reservoir land, infrastructure, and associated water rights to the City of Ouray
- Requires the city to assume maintenance and repair responsibility
- Requires continued public recreation and open-space use without public fees
- Bars most development or commercial operations and provides for reversion if the city violates the terms
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Conveys the Crystal Reservoir site and associated water rights from the Forest Service to the City of Ouray, Colorado, subject to public-use, maintenance, and reversion conditions.
Key Policy Areas
Water, Public Lands, Local Government
Primary Purpose
Conveys the Crystal Reservoir site and associated water rights from the Forest Service to the City of Ouray, Colorado, subject to public-use, maintenance, and reversion conditions.
Policy Domains
Section 2 - Crystal Reservoir conveyance
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- City of Ouray, Colorado
- Local residents and recreation users of Crystal Reservoir
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- City of Ouray, Colorado
- Forest Service staff responsible for the conveyance
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeCommittee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, …
Mr. Bennet (for himself and Mr. Hickenlooper) introduced the following …
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and …
Introduced in Senate
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
City of Ouray, Colorado, Forest Service staff responsible for transferring the reservoir property and water rights
Positive-direction: City of Ouray, Colorado
Negative-direction: Forest Service staff responsible for transferring the reservoir property and water rights
Local residents and visitors using Crystal Reservoir for public recreation
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_city"
- → City of Ouray, Colorado
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Agriculture acting through the Chief of the Forest Service
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Crystal Reservoir, associated facilities, water infrastructure, and the surrounding parcel shown on the official conveyance map.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology