Cortez Masto Joins Colleagues in Calling on Biden Administration to Support American West Amid Historic Drought

Lawmakers from Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, California, Oregon, and Arizona Call on USDA to "Bring All Resources to Bear" to Address Long-Term Drought

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and 29 Congressional colleagues in calling on the Biden administration to make further investments to address long-term drought caused by climate change.

"Drought remains a severe risk for American farmers and ranchers and threatens farmland and local economies that rely on dwindling water resources, especially in states West of the 100th meridian," wrote the lawmakers. "[T]here is more work to do as the places and people we represent are on the frontlines of climate change. We ask the Department to bring all resources to bear in helping address long-term drought and aridification in the Western United States."

The lawmakers applaud the Biden administration's ongoing efforts to support the American West as it faces a 1,200-year drought and the effects of climate change, including through the Western Water and Working Lands Framework and by opening up Inflation Reduction Act funding for additional climate-smart agriculture practices. However, they call for further action to address Western drought through investments in upstream, watershed-scale projects, water forecasting, water conservation, and watershed restoration.

"[I]nvestments to comprehensively address both short-term drought recovery and future resilience in the American West must include both smaller-scale on-farm measures and larger-scale upstream watershed restoration and improvements," the lawmakers continued.

The text of the letter is available here.

Senators Cortez Masto has been a leader in the Senate working to combat drought. Cortez Masto fought to deliver $4 billion to combat drought in the states bordering the Colorado River in the Inflation Reduction Act. She helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will continue to make a historic amount of funding available for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements across the country over five years. Cortez Masto also introduced legislation to establish a $450 million competitive grant program for large-scale water recycling projects across the Western U.S.

###