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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Seven western agricultural groups are pressing the Bureau of Reclamation to quickly determine how it plans to spend $4 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding to incentivize water conservation in drought-stricken areas.
The Bureau of Reclamation has reached out to agriculture interests in the West as the agency considers how to spend the $4 billion earmarked in the recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act for bolstering water-saving efforts in the Colorado River Basin and other drought-stricken areas.
The Bureau of Reclamation is working on new steps to prevent further depletion of drought-stricken Colorado River reservoirs that are critical for agriculture and cities but shrinking to levels that can’t sustain hydropower.
The bipartisan infrastructure agreement that the Senate is preparing to debate includes $8.3 billion in western water infrastructure funding sought by farm groups in the region that is suffering through an extended drought.
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow says she’s “very optimistic” that substantial new funding for farm bill conservation programs will be included in the $3.5 trillion spending agreement that Democrats have announced. Stabenow has been seeking $50 billion in new conservation funding to promote climate-friendly farming practices.
With President Joe Biden’s $2.7 trillion infrastructure plan in its beginning stages, western water interests and conservation groups are pushing for massive investments in water storage, conveyance and conservation projects to fix aging infrastructure and address persistent drought.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 18, 2017 - The House Subcommittee on Water, Power and Oceans held a hearing Oct. 12 to consider bipartisan bills designed to ease the process of implementing hydropower.
