Assistant Leader Neguse Successfully Passes Bill to Address Western Water Crisis through the House of Representatives
Last week, the Colorado Congressman took to the House Floor to speak in support of his legislation. Find a full video of his remarks HERE.
Lafayette, CO — In case you missed it, House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse, Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Colorado River Caucus, successfully secured passage of his bill to address the western water crisis through the House of Representatives. The bipartisan Water Monitoring and Tracking Essential Resources (WATER) Data Improvement Act is co-led by fellow Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Colorado River Caucus, Representative Juan Ciscomani (R-AZ). It passed by unanimous consent and now heads to the United States Senate, where it is championed by Senators Lummis (R-WY) and Hickenlooper (D-CO), for final consideration.
“In Colorado, we know how important it is to preserve, protect, and strengthen our critical water resources — and how important data is to that effort. Our bill reauthorizes programs that are used to make informed decisions on the sustainable management of our water resources,” said Assistant Leader Neguse. “As we continue to experience drought conditions throughout the Colorado River Basin and the West, we must ensure that our State, Federal, Tribal, and local partners have the resources to prepare for and mitigate against those impacts. It's critical that these efforts be supported and authorized, which is why I'm proud to sponsor this important bipartisan legislation, and I look forward to getting it across the finish line with the help of our partners in the Senate.”
The WATER Data Improvement Act addresses water scarcity across the West by supporting United States Geological Survey (USGS) programs, including the National Groundwater Resources Monitoring Network, the Federal Priority Streamgage Network, and water monitoring, measurement, and estimation through 2028.
Additional information about each program is as follows:
- The Federal Priority Streamgage Network is a federally-funded network of streamgages to measure streamflow information for forecasting, flood and drought planning, water quality monitoring, and more.
- The National Groundwater Resources Monitoring Network is a collaborative network that provides critical data on groundwater conditions that are used for the sustainable management of groundwater, drought recovery and planning, and water conservation.
- Improved water estimation, measurement, and monitoring technologies provides grants to agencies, academic institutions, and private entities to investigate, develop and implement new methodologies and technologies to estimate or measure water resources data and improve methods for analysis and delivery of data.
Assistant Leader Neguse has now advanced both of the bills included in his bipartisan legislative package to improve water resiliencethrough the House of Representatives. Earlier this year, he secured passage of his bill the Drought Preparedness Act, which advances long-term solutions for the Colorado River Basin. Together, these policies extend the authorization of emergency drought relief and increase water measurement and monitoring technologies.
As founder and Co-Chair of the Congressional Colorado River Caucus, Assistant Leader Neguse is dedicated to addressing water scarcity and improving drought preparedness for communities across the West. He continues to help convene conversations with bipartisan lawmakers to advance solutions regarding critical issues plaguing the Colorado River and supporting the work of the Colorado River Basin states on how best to address the worsening levels of drought in the Colorado River Basin.
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