In Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing, Rep. Susie Lee Addresses Need for Investment in Water Resources Infrastructure
In Appropriations Subcommittee Hearing, Rep. Susie Lee Addresses Need for Investment in Water Resources Infrastructure
WASHINGTON – In today's hearing for the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies, U.S. Rep. Susie Lee (Nev.-03) addressed the need for further investment in America's water resources infrastructure.
Rep. Lee asked the Associate Attorney of the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority, Ms. Bidtah Becker, about how the Drought Resiliency Program has helped her community in responding to drought emergencies:
Rep. Lee – "I was glad to join this committee because I think it's important to add to the regional perspectives, especially as we talk about efficient water resources management. My state is in the lower Colorado River Basin, where we consistently face duress from dry weather conditions. This probably has been compounded by the intensity of climate change that we're experiencing.
"Ms. Becker, I was pleased to review your testimony. You spoke at length about the Drought Resiliency Program, which has helped your community to smartly manage water supplies. Can you walk us through how this program has helped your community in developing a drought mitigation and response plan?"
Ms. Becker – "The Bureau of Reclamation's local staff works very closely with the Navajo Nation's staff in developing the drought resiliency plan. And most recently, the Navajo Nation has some tremendous young people coming home to work with us. Hydrologist experts have shared with me that climate change is affecting ground water quality. So, when we're thinking about climate change and drought, there's also a water quality issue that's part of this concern. So, they applied from the Bureau of Reclamation for drought funding to address some water supply issue, one in Oljato [...] They have a very limited water supply there — a system that runs 12 hours a day — so they need to relieve the pressure on that. The drought funding is part of the overall response that you were asking about. So that will go help build a new well in the Oljato area.
"In addition, the second part of funding that's coming from the Bureau last year and this year from the Drought Response Program is addressing a long-term project that the Bureau of Reclamation has been working with the Navajo Nation for quite some time on the Western Navajo Pipeline. In the western part of the nation […] that's where we have some of our lowest precipitation and we have some serious groundwater that they're analyzing ways to bring surface water into the Navajo Nation. So, these are ways that the Reclamation [Bureau] has been so helpful in addressing."
Rep. Lee then asked the Director of Infrastructure Policy from the Center for American Progress, Mr. Kevin DeGoode, about how nature-based infrastructure could be combined with traditional engineering:
Rep. Lee – "Can you talk about how green infrastructure can be used alongside or even as an alternative to traditional grey infrastructure with the goal of bringing multiple benefits to a project in cost-efficient manner?"
Mr. DeGoode – "I think it's important to understand that when we bring these nature and nature-based features and national features into design, often times we end up with projects that have either a lower total cost or a lower total lifetime, life cycle cost because natural features tend to need less ongoing maintenance and we often end up with projects that have better overall environmental performance.
"It's so much about mindset, and when you start the planning process, if you only start with pure navigation or flood control without considering what these other benefits could be, you're going to end that planning process with something that looks like the old traditional grade facilities that we're trying to move away from. If you start with improved environmental performance at the beginning, what you'll end up with is a project that has a mix, generally, of traditional grey and green infrastructure that will, again, typically be lower total life cycle cost and have better environmental performance. But that's a lot about Congress providing direction and helping to change the course, culture, and mission."
Last Congress, Rep. Lee helped pass the Climate Action Now Act, which was the first vote Congress had taken in a decade to address the threats of climate change. Included in this bill was her amendment addressing drought and water shortages caused by climate change.