Colorado town gets free reservoir, must keep it public forever
H.R. 5911 — Crystal Reservoir Conveyance Act · Filed by Jeff Hurd (R-CO) · Introduced Nov 4, 2025 · Passed chamber
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What it does
The bill gives Crystal Reservoir to the City of Ouray for free. It also gives 45 acres of land around it. The city must pay for all dam repairs and upkeep. The land must stay open to the public. People can fish and play there at no cost. The city cannot build on it or make money from it. The federal government can take the land back if the city breaks the rules.
Who it affects
People in Ouray get a free place to fish and play outdoors. The city must pay to fix and maintain the dam.
One thing to notice
The city gets the reservoir for free. It must pay all costs to keep the dam safe and working forever.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
- Nov 4, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Nov 4, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
- Feb 10, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
- Apr 21, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
- Apr 21, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by Unanimous Consent”
- Jun 2, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H3752-3753)”
- Jun 2, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- maintain — to keep something in good working order
- public — open to everyone, not just one person or group
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (7,274 characters) on Jul 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,522 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-21.
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