Members of Congress from six of the seven states that use Colorado River water are convening a new caucus. The group aims to help rally federal funding for water projects along a river that supplies 40 million people and is shrinking due to climate change.
Congress passed a government funding bill in a down-to-the-wire vote on Thursday in the face of a looming shutdown. The continuing resolution bill, a short-term spending resolution that will keep the government funded through early December, delegates $28.6 billion to disaster relief efforts, including for wildfire prevention and response and the consequences of drought.
Right now, Congress is debating needed investments in our water system decades in the making. While the Senate’s compromise bill passed earlier this month includes billions for lead pipe replacement and helping communities prepare for future drought and floods, the bill falls short of ensuring all families can turn their tap on and access safe, affordable water.
Infrastructure spending isn’t enough. We must pair new water spending with bill assistance to ensure the water flowing through our upgraded pipes serves all households in America. This is especially true as the country faces another rise in COVID-19 cases.
With rural wells running dry and reservoir levels dwindling amid the Western drought, California senators are pressing Congress for an infusion of cash to renovate the state’s collapsing drinking water system.
But instead of new dams or desalination plants, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla want the state to take a more innovative approach in prepping for future megadroughts experts predict will only worsen due to global warming.
Now that his massive coronavirus relief package is law, President Joe Biden is laying out his next big proposal: A roughly $2 trillion plan for improving the nation’s infrastructure and shifting to greener energy over the next 8 years. He is set to unveil the effort, dubbed the American Jobs Plan, on Wednesday at an event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — the opening move in what’s expected to be a months-long negotiation with Congress.
Negotiators quietly released a final pared-down water infrastructure bill Friday night, an apparent compromise eked out after the original, sprawling plan hit roadblocks and disagreements.
House members are now slated to cast their votes as early as tomorrow on S. 1811, the “Water Resources Development Act of 2020,” which will come up under suspension of the rules, a way to fast-track noncontroversial measures.
On July 15, President Trump’s Council on Environmental Quality issued its long-dreaded “final rule,” a comprehensive weakening of the National Environmental Protection Act. NEPA is not only the nation’s most important federal protection against projects that threaten our environment and climate, it is also a cornerstone of our efforts to promote environmental justice, ensuring that projects assess and mitigate the disproportionate adverse impacts that minority and low-income communities often suffer.
California is one step closer to being able to apply for millions of dollars in its fight against nutria, giant swamp rodents.
In 2003, Congress passed The Nutria Eradication and Control Act, which established a fund to help Maryland and Louisiana battle the animals. Recently, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan legislation that now allows California to also receive support. The bill now heads to the Senate.
The House yesterday cleared a sweeping public lands package to be signed into law — a historic achievement that could have long-standing political repercussions in both parties and chambers.
The House’s 310-107 passage of the “Great American Outdoors Act” came nearly a month after the Senate advanced its version, 73-25.
A multibillion-dollar measure that would help build, repair, and maintain a wide variety of water infrastructure projects sailed through the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Wednesday.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
