https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/local_news/walden-lauds-trump-s-signing-of-major-water-legislation/article_8b6b2570-6a28-5fcc-8833-6c7bb39973a3.html
Walden
lauds Trump’s signing of major water legislation
Key provisions
for water relief in the Klamath Basin are included in a major
piece of legislation signed into law on Tuesday by President
Donald Trump.
Trump signed
off on the Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 Tuesday afternoon in
the Oval Office, with Congressman Greg Walden, a Hood River
Republican, among those attending the signing.
The
legislation – Senate Bill 3021 – authorizes construction of Army
Corps of Engineers water resource projects for flood risk
management, hurricane and storm damage risk reduction, according
to a White House news release, but also includes provisions
impacting the Klamath Basin and California.
“It’s $10
million a year for the next four years as needed, and I think
that’s a real important safety net as we work on longer term
solutions in the Klamath Basin,” Walden told the Herald and News
in a phone interview prior to his attendance at the White House
signing.
“There are
some other provisions in the language that provide for
groundwater pumping, which increases flexibility and reliability
and efficient use of water in the Basin,” Walden said. “It
allows for temporary and voluntary land idling on Bureau of
Reclamation property to make additional water available. And it
also has language to facilitate the movement of non-Project
water through the Bureau of Reclamation facilities to assist
irrigators.
“There is the
explicit disaster relief and money for pumping but then there
are these other authorities that provide management flexibility
to move water around the Basin as needed, to maximize its use
for agriculture. So, it is more than just a disaster relief
check,” Walden added. “It is flexibility for better water
management when water is scarce, which seems to be about every
year.”
Walden, who is
up for re-election this November, said he worked extensively on
the Energy and Commerce Committee on the bill to specifically
help the Klamath Basin farmers with the disaster assistance.
Walden
expressed some frustration with legal counsel employed by the
Bureau of Reclamation in California who he said were “confused”
about how to get the emergency drought relief to farmers.
“Certainly for
the Klamath Basin, this finally gives the Bureau of Reclamation
lawyers the certainty they’ve been confused about,” Walden said.
“This comes
back and makes certain that money can be spent the way it was
always intended, and resolves the conflict the lawyers at the
Bureau of Reclamation had, and then going forward, it puts in
place the language everybody agrees is needed.”
Laura
Williams, a spokesman for the Klamath Basin Area Office,
acknowledged that there was frustration felt by many, including
for those in Reclamation.
Williams said
the Omnibus bill initially did not include language that gave
Reclamation the authority to distribute the funds.
“We were also
frustrated this year … so I can understand his frustration,”
Williams said, “but without the words in there clearly
identifying the legal authority, we cannot do it.”
Walden said he
plans to help make things as clear as possible for the Bureau of
Reclamation in how to roll out the program funding.
“After the
president signs this into law today, I intend to have a
conversation with the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of
Interior, to make sure that we bust through the uncertainty, the
bureaucracy at the Bureau, and get this money out where it
belongs,” Walden said. “There should be no question now, at the
highest levels of the Bureau, that we’ve resolved their issues.
And I expect them to not get bogged down again.”
Walden said he
didn’t have a timeline necessarily for when money could be
rolled out from the program.
“There should
be no reason for delay, and I’m going to make certain everybody
understands that at the bureau,” Walden said.
Walden
emphasized a reoccurring drought is a main concern behind the
funding for the Basin within the legislation.
“If we don’t
get the snow pack again, that could be real problematic going
forward,” Walden said. “Two years ago, I think we had nearly a
record snow pack and then this year of course was not so much.
“It provides a
safety net going forward, should we have another bad year or two
or three.”
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