Bipartisan members of the Senate EPW Committee voted to include several Barrasso amendments to the 2013 Water Resources Development Act.
Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s remarks.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Transportation and Infrastructure, successfully included amendments to the 2013 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). These amendments cut waste in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers budget and will help Wyoming communities better predict and prepare for floods.
Excerpts from Senator Barrasso’s comments during today’s Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Business Meeting:
‘We have problems with aging infrastructure, with lack of transparency, with fiscal accountability.
“In Wyoming, we have issues of flood mitigation. They are very important to folks at home—predicting floods and being better prepared for them is a major component in keeping Wyoming communities safe.
“That’s why I proposed, and happy to have included in the bill language, with the help of the Chair and the Ranking Member, for an authorization of the Upper Missouri Basin flood and drought monitoring.
“This program is going to restore the stream gauges and the snow pack monitors through the Upper Missouri Basin at all elevations.
“These gauges are used to monitor snow depth and soil moisture to help inform agencies like the Corps as to potential flooding and also drought in the future. This is very important in protecting communities and in saving lives.
“As I mentioned, transparency and fiscal responsibility are also important components to tackling the issues that need to be addressed with the Army Corps.
“That’s why I authored language to create an Army Corp Project deauthorization process that mimics the old ‘BRAC’ process, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, that the Department of Defense uses to close and reconsolidate Army bases.
“Under this amendment, an independent commission appointed by the President would identify projects for deauthorization based on specific established criteria, and then submit those projects as one package for an up or down vote in Congress.
“It really is time, Madam Chairman, for the Corps and Congress to clean the books, cut the waste, and bring fiscal responsibility to the WRDA process.
“I just want to thank you again Madam Chairman and Ranking Member Vitter, who’ve accepted this amendment, and I look forward to working with all my colleagues to continuing this important piece of legislation in a bipartisan way.”
Background on the Barrasso Amendments Included in WRDA:
Deauthorization Process – Senator Barrasso authored and secured an amendment to create an Army Corp project deauthorization process that mimics the BRAC process that the Department of Defense uses to close or reconsolidate military bases. This is a process where an independent 8 member commission called the Infrastructure Deauthorization Commission (IDC), would pick projects for deauthorization based on established criteria. Then the Commission would submit those projects as one package for an up or down vote in Congress. According to the National Academy of Sciences, there is a $60 billion backlog in Corps projects.
Upper Missouri Basin Flood and Drought Monitoring – Senator Barrasso secured an authorization for $11.25 million to restore the stream gauges and snow pack monitors through the Upper Missouri Basin. These gauges are used to monitor snow depth and soil moisture to help inform agencies like the Corps as to potential flooding and drought.
Protecting Wyoming Water Rights – Senator Barrasso secured language to protect Wyoming water rights in the Northern Rockies Headwaters Extreme weather title. This section allows environmental groups to apply for funding to manage “instream flows restoration projects” and do “floodplain restoration” along the headwaters of the Columbia, Missouri, and Yellowstone Rivers and their tributaries. Barrasso secured language that states that “Nothing in this section invalidates, preempts, or creates any exception to State water law, State water rights, or Federal or State permitted activities or agreements in the States of Idaho and Montana, or any State containing tributaries to rivers in those States.”
Making Tribes Eligible for Water Project Financing – Senator Barrasso secured language to make tribes eligible for loans that can go to repairing and replacing of an aging water distribution facility and community water system.
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