In Appropriations Hearing, Rep. Susie Lee Addresses Historic Drought, Advocates for Rapid Investment in Western Water

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WASHINGTON – In today's hearing for the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water and Related Agencies, Rep. Susie Lee advocated for rapid deployment of bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds for western water. Rep. Lee also spoke to the need for additional funding to implement drought contingency plans and to improve water levels at Lake Mead.

Rep. Lee first questioned David Palumbo, Deputy Commissioner of Operations at the Bureau of Reclamation about expedient delivery of water management funds included in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Rep. Lee – "In addition to the release of spend plans, can you share with this committee the concrete steps that we can expect the Bureau to take in the coming months to ensure expedient delivery of these critical water management funds?"

Mr. Palumbo – "Thank you very much, Congresswoman. We have a variety of funding opportunities being issued currently and this summer to put that money to work under [the] bill as quickly as possible. We've hired several employees to ensure that when those applications come in, they can be turned around and then implemented on the ground. Specific to the Colorado River basin, we are looking at opportunities for more conservation. We've divided this issue that we're facing into a crisis that we have today, getting those tourniquets put on, and then our long-term planning what we're going to do for the long term. So some of these grants on conservation will help with those tourniquets and then some of the grants will also help towards those that long term planning efforts to match supplies and demands in the future."

Rep. Lee – "So in hiring these employees, are you feeling like you're going to be able to do it in time or are there barriers to being able to do that?"

Mr. Palumbo – "Right. I think we're very confident we've got the right folks on board now to help turn that money around expeditiously. Everybody understands the charge – getting, again, these tourniquets on as quickly as possible, shoring up those elevations, implementing this 500 plus plan, which you may have heard about, implementing other measures to shore up elevations in both reservoirs. We believe we've got the right staff on board to do that."

Rep. Lee then questioned Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the Department of the Interior about the upcoming renegotiation of the Colorado River guidelines in 2026.
Rep. Lee – "I worked to pass the Colorado Drought Contingency Plan in 2019, as well as secure funding for large scale recycling projects as part of the infrastructure bill. Nevada and the Colorado River Basin states have made smart investments to go to better manage and monitor their water. But as we know, we still have a long way to go and not enough time. Can you comment on what additional strategies you think should be deployed by the federal government as we begin negotiations for the 2026 renewal of the Colorado River guidelines?"

Ms. Trujillo – "Thank you, Representative Lee. As I mentioned in my opening, this is an issue that we are very focused on right now. Colorado River issues are something we work on every day. We are working not only in the short term, but also thinking about the longer-term measures. And we do have a good track record to build from. So for the past 20 years, we've been thinking about proactive measures and programs that we can implement to conserve water, better manage, and better balance the system based on the available supply that we have. That's exactly the kind of foundation that we're going to be building from.

"Right now, I am I'm leading an effort at the department to work closely with the tribal representatives and basin state representatives to think about what we can do now to bring more water down into Lake Powell, to protect that system and also protect the system in the lower basin as well. The next round of guidelines is something that we're also thinking about in addition to the short-term measures. And we're going to be working on a pre scoping process for that to be kicked off later this year."

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