Sponsor
Jeff Hurd
Representative · R-CO
The bill transfers local ownership and preserves recreation and wetlands at Crystal Reservoir, but does so by shifting substantial financial, regulatory, and legal responsibilities and constraints onto the City of Ouray and the local community.
Residents and the City of Ouray gain fee-simple ownership and local control of Crystal Reservoir and its associated water rights, enabling locally tailored operation and decision-making over water storage and use.
Public recreational access (including fishing) to the reservoir is preserved in perpetuity without general access fees, ensuring ongoing outdoor recreation for local residents and visitors.
The conveyance prohibits reservoir surface expansion that would harm upstream wetlands, protecting local wetland ecosystems and associated environmental benefits.
The City of Ouray must pay initial survey costs and assume all ongoing costs for dam repair, operation, maintenance, replacement, rehabilitation, and regulatory compliance, creating a potentially large local fiscal burden.
Transferring water rights and operational responsibility exposes the City to significant regulatory liability and ongoing compliance costs under state and federal dam safety laws.
Federal reserved easements, valid existing rights, and a reversion clause (if the City fails to meet terms) limit the City's flexibility to manage the property and create ongoing legal and management uncertainty.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Transfers Crystal Reservoir, Full Moon Dam, related lands and U.S. water rights to the City of Ouray, with the City assuming operations, maintenance, and public-access obligations.
Official title: Crystal Reservoir Conveyance Act
Introduced November 4, 2025 by Jeff Hurd · Last progress June 3, 2026
Representative · R-CO
Conveys title to Crystal Reservoir, Full Moon Dam, Full Moon Ditch, Reservoir Number 10, and an approximately 45-acre parcel (and appurtenant U.S. water rights) from the Forest Service to the City of Ouray, Colorado. The transfer is at no purchase cost but requires the City to pay survey costs, assume all operation, maintenance, repair, replacement and regulatory compliance responsibilities for dam and related infrastructure, and keep the land as open space with public recreational access under specified limitations and reversionary conditions.