Even though the LaPrele Dam is located more than 300 miles from his district, state Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, told Cowboy State Daily he sees fixing the failing dam as a state level emergency that transcends jurisdictions.
The dam is failing because of a huge crack found in the 115-year-old dam upstream from Douglas. When originally built, a 50-year lifespan was put on it.
“I think it’s important that we make sure this dam gets rebuilt,” Yin told the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday. “I think it should be one of the top priorities of the legislative session this year, because frankly, it is an emergency.”
To do that, he proposed a bill tripling the state’s contribution to the rebuilt from $30 million to $90 million, which the committee unanimously passed Tuesday.
The Legislature already set aside $30 million for the dam in 2022. Yin’s bill would increase the state’s contribution to the project’s total $182 million cost. Yin and many others expect the federal government to cover whatever the state does not fund.
Dueling Bills
There’s already $60 million set aside for the dam in a separate omnibus water spending bill that was drafted after Yin’s. That, along with Yin’s bill, would raise the state’s total contribution to the dam project to $90 million. Yin’s bill pulls all of its funding from the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account.
The omnibus proposal put forward by the Select Water Committee would include pulling $50 million from the Alkali Creek Reservoir scheduled to be built near Hyattville in northern Wyoming.
This project isn’t ready for construction yet and Jason Mead, director of the Wyoming Water Development Commission, told Cowboy State Daily that work on it won’t start until at least 2026.
Lawmakers would move the money allocated to the project to the LaPrele Dam and restore funding for the Alkali Creek Reservoir project in the near future.
Members of the House Appropriations Committee expressed an interest Tuesday in dealing with funding for that project during the biennial budget process early next year, which Mead said could be a smart approach.
Yin said he also supports the omnibus bill for the LaPrele project and describes his legislation as “just another horse in the race.”
“I brought another bill basically as a second horse in the race just to make sure it happens no matter what,” he said.
While talking to reporters earlier this month, Yin and the bill’s co-sponsor Sen. Mike Gierau, D-Jackson, said they find the dam to be a pressing issue when considering the economic effects its collapse could render on the whole state if it impacts the Interstate 25 corridor.
"That I-25 piece is absolutely critical," Gierau said. "That's where goods and services travel from Denver to Casper and around the state, using that road. That road washes out for months on end, and it's going to create a serious problem, economic disaster, in a lot of communities around the state."
Yin told the committee he wouldn’t be bothered if his bill doesn’t pass as long as some form of relief is provided for the dam.
Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, added an amendment clarifying that passing the omnibus will cancel out Yin’s bill.
“That way we don’t have two horses get to the finish line,” Haroldson said.
The House Appropriations Committee passed a proposal from state Rep. Mike Yin, D-Jackson, to triple the state's commitment to rebuilding the LaPrele Dam. (Matt Idler for Cowboy State Daily) 
State Rep. Jeremy Haroldson, R-Wheatland, talks about rebuilding the LaPrele Dam during a House Appropriations Committee meeting Jan. 28, 2025. (Matt Idler for Cowboy State Daily)
Dam Outlook
Yin doesn’t believe there’s any chance reconstruction on the dam could begin until 2026. Jason Mead, director of the Wyoming Water Development Commission, agreed but also said decommissioning of the dam is scheduled to start by the end of this month and pre-construction efforts could begin before the end of the year. If work starts in mid-2026, he expects the new dam to be done by 2029.
Haroldson asked Mead if any consideration has been given to building a new dam farther downstream while keeping the current dam in place for the time being in order to protect infrastructure from a large flood. This was the original plan for LaPrele but Mead mentioned how additional cracking in the abutments and front side of the dam have already ruined its structural integrity.
“Basically it’s actively failing,” he said.
Mead said anything more than a slightly above spring runoff could eventually lead to potential breakage in the dam.
He said the dam directly impacts about 100 irrigators and 12,000 acres downstream. Mead said they will likely have to depend on their direct flow water rights while the dam is being rebuilt, which will reduce their farming production. Due to the relatively low elevation of these farmlands, Mead said their water access is already more limited.
“They’re really dependent on that supplemental flow coming from the reservoir storage when the water is there early in the spring and it’s not there in August and September, even July,” Mead said.
Holly Kennedy of the Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts said private landowners around the dam haven’t been able to utilize their private water rights since 2019.
It was in 2019 that looming problems with the dam were first detected, according to engineers. A huge new crack was discovered in October. On Nov. 1, Wyoming State Engineer Brandon Gebhart issued an order to breach the dam.
“This is a small community, and this is going to have a pretty dramatic effect on that community,” she said.
As far as protecting I-25 infrastructure from a potential flood, Mead said the state has yet to secure any federal funding.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
