A bill to deauthorize the Blunt Reservoir feature of the Oahe Irrigation Project, South Dakota, and direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain parcels of land acquired for the reservoir to the Commission of Schools and Public Lands of the State of South Dakota, on the condition that the current preferential leaseholders shall have an option to purchase the parcels from the Commission.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Oct 6, 1998
Deauthorizes the Blunt Reservoir feature of the Oahe Irrigation Project authorized as part of the Pick-Sloan Missouri River Basin Program. Directs the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, to convey all of the preferential lease parcels to the Commission of Schools and Public Lands of South Dakota, on the condition that the Commission honor the purchase option provided to preferential leaseholders under this Act. Requires a preferential leaseholder to have an option to purchase from the Commission the preferential lease parcel that is the subject of the lease. Permits a preferential leaseholder to elect to purchase a parcel on one of the following terms: (1) cash purchase for the amount that is equal to the value of the parcel minus ten percent of that value; or (2) installment purchase, with 20 percent of the value of the parcel to be paid on the purchase date and the remainder to be paid over 30 years at three percent annual interest. Provides for such leaseholders to have until ten years after the date of the conveyance to exercise such option. Directs the Secretary, through the Commissioner, to convey to the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks the Blunt Reservoir parcels that are leased on a nonpreferential basis to be used for the purpose of mitigating the wildlife habitat that was lost as a result of the development of the Pick-Sloan project.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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