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Flood of Western groups lobby for drought bill

[/title][fusion_text]Wednesday, March 16th 2016

Over 100 Western organizations, including commodity groups and state Farm Bureaus, penned a letter urging Congress to speedily pass drought legislation. The letter asked Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., to pass a bill into law that solves the immediate and long-term impacts of drought before the end of the year. The groups’ note is a follow-up to a letter of the same sentiment sent in October of last year. The groups asked for legislation that would encourage the modernization of Western water systems, a process they say includes adopting real-time monitoring and data collection for water supply and aquatic species management, “more flexible” environmental laws and regulations, and new water storage infrastructure. A pending bill introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., calls for increased pumping from the Bay Delta and allowing more water to be pumped during periods of high river flows.

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