[Senate Hearing 117-451]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                        S. Hrg. 117-451

   THE STATUS AND MANAGEMENT OF DROUGHT IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                            SUBCOMMITTEE ON 
                            WATER AND POWER

                                 OF THE

                              COMMITTEE ON
                      ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
                          UNITED STATES SENATE

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION
                               __________

                            OCTOBER 6, 2021
                               __________
                               
                               
                [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]                             
                               

                       Printed for the use of the
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources


        Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
        
                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
                    
45-812                     WASHINGTON : 2023          
        

               COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES

                JOE MANCHIN III, West Virginia, Chairman
RON WYDEN, Oregon                    JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming
MARIA CANTWELL, Washington           JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho
BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont             MIKE LEE, Utah
MARTIN HEINRICH, New Mexico          STEVE DAINES, Montana
MAZIE K. HIRONO, Hawaii              LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska
ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine            JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota
CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada       JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma
MARK KELLY, Arizona                  BILL CASSIDY, Louisiana
JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, Colorado       CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi
                                     ROGER MARSHALL, Kansas
                                 ------                                

                    Subcommittee on Water and Power

                          RON WYDEN, Chairman

BERNARD SANDERS                      CINDY HYDE-SMITH
CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO               JAMES E. RISCH
MARK KELLY                           MIKE LEE
JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER                 JOHN HOEVEN
                                     ROGER MARSHALL

                      Renae Black, Staff Director
                      Sam E. Fowler, Chief Counsel
              Melanie Thornton, Professional Staff Member
             Richard M. Russell, Republican Staff Director
              Matthew H. Leggett, Republican Chief Counsel
       Brian Clifford, Republican Principal Deputy Staff Director


                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              

                           OPENING STATEMENTS

                                                                   Page
Kelly, Hon. Mark, a U.S. Senator from Arizona....................     1
Hyde-Smith, Hon. Cindy, Subcommittee Ranking Member and a U.S. 
  Senator from Mississippi.......................................     5
Hoeven, Hon. John, a U.S. Senator from North Dakota..............    39

                               WITNESSES

Trujillo, Hon. Tanya, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, 
  U.S. Department of the Interior................................     6
Buschatzke, Tom, Director, Arizona Department of Water Resources.    15
Pitt, Jennifer, Colorado River Program Director, National Audubon 
  Society........................................................    30
Ellingson, Julie Schaff, Executive Vice President, North Dakota 
  Stockmen's Association.........................................    39

          ALPHABETICAL LISTING AND APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED

Arizona Farm Bureau:
    Statement for the Record.....................................   115
Association of California Water Agencies:
    Letter for the Record........................................   118
Buschatzke, Tom:
    Opening Statement............................................    15
    Written Testimony............................................    17
    Responses to Questions for the Record........................   104
Colorado River Energy Distributors Association:
    Letter for the Record........................................   120
Ellingson, Julie Schaff:
    Opening Statement............................................    39
    Written Testimony............................................    42
Family Farm Alliance:
    Statement for the Record.....................................    56
(The) Freshwater Trust:
    Statement for the Record.....................................   122
Hoeven, Hon. John:
    Opening Statement............................................    39
Hyde-Smith, Hon. Cindy:
    Opening Statement............................................     5
Kelly, Hon. Mark:
    Opening Statement............................................     1
    U.S. Drought Monitor map.....................................     2
    Photograph of Hoover Dam, Lake Mead National Recreation Area.     4
Lee, Hon. Mike:
    U.S. Drought Monitor chart for the State of Utah, dated 
      September 28, 2021.........................................    86
    Photograph of cattle with limited forage.....................    88
Martin & McCoy and Culp & Kelly LLP:
    Snapshot of report entitled ``Ten Strategies for Climate 
      Resilience in the Colorado River Basin'' dated July 2021...   113
National Audobon Society et al.:
    Letter to Senate Majority Leader Schumer and House Speaker 
      Pelosi, dated October 28, 2021.............................   110
Pitt, Jennifer:
    Opening Statement............................................    30
    Written Testimony............................................    32
    Responses to Questions for the Record........................   106
San Carlos Apache Tribe:
    Statement for the Record.....................................   128
Trujillo, Hon. Tanya:
    Opening Statement............................................     6
    Written Testimony............................................     8
    Responses to Questions for the Record........................    97
Wells, James:
    Report sponsored by the San Carlos Apache Tribe entitled 
      ``The Proposed Resolution Copper Mine and Arizona's Water 
      Future'' dated September 2021..............................   133
Yuma County Agricultural Water Coalition:
    Statement for the Record.....................................   152

 
   THE STATUS AND MANAGEMENT OF DROUGHT IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES

                              ----------                              


                       WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021

                               U.S. Senate,
                   Subcommittee on Water and Power,
                 Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:30 p.m. in 
Room SD-366, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Mark Kelly, 
presiding.

             OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. MARK KELLY, 
                   U.S. SENATOR FROM ARIZONA

    Senator Kelly [presiding]. Good afternoon, everybody. The 
Subcommittee on Water and Power will come to order. The purpose 
of today's hearing is to examine the status and management of 
drought in the western United States. Approximately 90 percent 
of the western U.S. is currently experiencing some degree of 
moderate to severe drought. Water has always been a limited 
resource in the West. We have this old saying in Arizona that 
whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting. By the turn 
of the 19th century, as westward expansion took hold, a complex 
framework of case law and interstate water compacts allocated--
and in some cases overallocated--surface water supplies. 
Congress later established the Bureau of Reclamation to reclaim 
and maximize surface water in the West.
    Today, however, abnormally dry conditions are reducing the 
availability of water for farms, for industry, and for our 
cities and towns. Native fish and wildlife have never been so 
imperiled. And drought is making our forests more susceptible 
to wildfire. Behind me, we have a graphic produced by the U.S. 
Drought Monitor program. Updated weekly, it shows the general 
reach of a regional drought that has persisted for the last 20 
years. And you can see how bad it is in the West.
    [U.S. Drought Monitor map follows:]
    
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Senator Kelly. Some climate scientists call this a 
megadrought. Tree ring and soil data indicate that we are 
experiencing the worst drought in 1,200 years, having surpassed 
the last longest drought, which occurred in the late 1500's. 
Scientific assessments show that these drought conditions are 
made worse by the effects of climate change, rising 
temperatures, and reduced snowmelt. This issue is a priority 
for me because Arizona is on the front lines of this 
megadrought. In August, the Department of the Interior 
announced its first ever drought restrictions on the Colorado 
River. It affects 40 million Americans in seven states--
Arizona, California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and 
Wyoming.
    But Arizona gets hit the hardest. We stand to lose 18 
percent of our annual Colorado River water allocation beginning 
next year. And that is in a few months. Now fortunately, 
Arizona is prepared for these initial cutbacks. We are 
implementing mitigation measures that keep more water in the 
Colorado River system and improve water efficiency in our 
farming. We plan to save enough water so that most Arizonans 
will not be impacted. But, you know, we are not out of the 
woods here. Last month, the Interior Department produced a new 
forecast showing that water levels in Lake Mead could soon 
decline enough to trigger a second round of drought 
restrictions. Lake Mead is the nation's largest man-made lake. 
It stores Colorado River water behind the Hoover Dam, the 
world's largest public infrastructure project when it was built 
during the Great Depression. Currently, Lake Mead's capacity is 
35 percent. It is the lowest level since the lake was first 
filled. Its sister reservoir, Lake Powell, is the second 
largest man-made lake in the United States and it is not at 35 
percent capacity, but it is at 30 percent capacity. Lake Mead 
and Lake Powell are the poster children for western drought. A 
pale bathtub ring encircles both lakes where the canyon walls 
were once submerged. We have that here, and you can see what 
the level was historically by that ring and what it is today. 
It is significantly lower. It goes from about 1,299 feet at 
full capacity, and it is about 1,067 or so feet above sea level 
today.
    [Photograph of Hoover Dam, Lake Mead National Recreation 
Area follows:]

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Senator Kelly. At Lake Powell, only two of its boat ramps 
can still safely unload motorized boats. And if the Rockies see 
another year or two of record-low snowmelt where the headwaters 
of the Colorado River are located, Arizona, California, and 
Nevada will be facing tougher drought restrictions, possibly 
beginning in 2023.
    And then there is hydropower, a source of carbon-free 
energy that is vital to grid reliability and resiliency in the 
West. Reclamation predicts there is a chance next year that 
water levels in Lake Powell might dip low enough that power 
generation at Glen Canyon Dam could be affected, and in some 
cases, affected significantly. Many other watersheds across the 
West are facing similar water scarcity and sustainability 
challenges. These challenges may sound serious because they are 
serious. But here is the thing--there is no country in the 
world that is better at solving big problems when we put our 
minds to it. We can solve this today, and that is why we are 
here. We are going hear from a panel of experts in government, 
in environmental advocacy, and in agriculture, who are working 
on water management solutions to these very issues. I look 
forward to listening to their testimony.
    And with that, I will turn this over now to Ranking Member 
Hyde-Smith for her opening remarks.

          OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CINDY HYDE-SMITH, 
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM MISSISSIPPI

    Senator Hyde-Smith. I would like to thank the Chair for 
calling this important meeting today to bring attention to this 
crippling issue that is plaguing the West. Thanks to our 
witnesses that are here, for your willingness to come and serve 
and offer your suggestions, and I hope your testimony and 
answers today leave us with a more unified understanding of how 
serious drought and drought-related issues are, and more 
importantly, potential solutions to water supply challenges in 
drought-prone areas.
    Lying east of the Mississippi River, my state does not have 
as many drought-related issues as western states. In fact, we 
tend to run into trouble on the opposite end of that spectrum 
with heavy rainfall and catastrophic flooding. However, a 
commonality I find between severe drought and flooding is the 
devastating impact that it has on our farmers, ranchers, and 
our rural communities. Farmers are the lifeblood of this 
nation, and Reclamation is integral to farmers, as it provides 
one out of five western farmers with irrigation water for 10 
million acres of farmland, which provides 60 percent of the 
nation's vegetables and 25 percent of its fruits and nuts.
    I believe it is vital that we discover responsible 
solutions to address western water infrastructure needs for our 
farmers, ranchers, and the rural communities. I look forward to 
discussing how to ease the harmful economic impacts of drought 
in a manner that allows for the completion of economic 
development projects that will benefit our farmers and rural 
communities, protect watershed health, and support those rural 
communities that need access to water storage the most.
    So thank you for being here. Thank you for being a part of 
this American process, and I sure hope to learn something from 
you.
    Thank you.
    Senator Kelly. Thank you, Ranking Member Hyde-Smith.
    Now it is time to introduce our witnesses.
    First, we have Ms. Tanya Trujillo, the Assistant Secretary 
for Water and Science at the Department of the Interior, who is 
testifying in person.
    And next, we have Tom Buschatzke, the Director of the 
Arizona Department of Water Resources, who is also testifying 
in person.
    Participating virtually, we have Ms. Julie Schaff 
Ellingson, the Executive Vice President of the North Dakota 
Stockmen's Association.
    And finally, we have Ms. Jennifer Pitt, the Colorado River 
Program Director for the National Audubon Society, who is also 
participating virtually.
    I would like thank all of our witnesses for testifying 
today, especially our Arizona witness, Mr. Buschatzke. Your 
written remarks, all of you, will be included in the hearing 
record. Please keep your oral testimony to five minutes each.
    Assistant Secretary Trujillo, we will begin with you.

STATEMENT OF HON. TANYA TRUJILLO, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR WATER 
          AND SCIENCE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

    Ms. Trujillo. Thank you, Senator Kelly. Good afternoon.
    Senator Kelly, I appreciate your leadership on these issues 
and your service here today with this hearing. Senator Hyde-
Smith, equally, thank you for being part of our western water 
world today. I appreciate your service.
    I am Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the 
Department of the Interior, Tanya Trujillo. Thank you for the 
opportunity to testify regarding the status and management of 
drought in the western U.S. Along with my fellow panelists, we 
will present a thorough picture of how climate change and the 
drought are affecting our communities and our environment. I 
was last before the Committee in June to testify in support of 
the bipartisan infrastructure deal, which contains many 
provisions that will help assist us with these efforts. The 
entire West has experienced severe drought conditions this 
year, and in some cases, we are seeing events we have never 
seen before. So we are having to adapt and react in real time 
and to work very closely with our partners to respond to the 
situations as they are evolving.
    October 1st marked the new water year across the West, and 
unfortunately, we are starting out with water supply conditions 
in many basins that are significantly below average. For 
example, in the Colorado River Basin, Lake Powell and Lake Mead 
are currently at historic lows. In California, where we have 
just seen the driest two years back-to-back on record, some of 
the reservoirs are also at their historic low levels. It will 
be essential to maintain close coordination with our partners 
on the ground as we move forward if we do continue to see 
continued dry and warm conditions that are predicted.
    The Department of the Interior is working closely with our 
sister agencies and with the states, tribes, and local entities 
to respond to the drought. Since January, we have provided 
funding to over 220 different projects around the West, and we 
were recently able to reprogram $100 million to be able to be 
responsive to drought conditions that are evolving in various 
programs and various contexts. Those contributions will include 
making infrastructure improvements and otherwise improving and 
continuing to maintain our drought contingency planning 
efforts. We also received additional funding through the 
disaster relief bill that was passed last week, and we are 
looking forward to working to get that funding out to the local 
and tribal communities as soon as possible.
    We have worked to develop coordinated operational plans in 
many areas, and those will help us to respond to the drought 
conditions as well. For example, in the Colorado River Basin, 
we are currently implementing the provisions of prior 
agreements, and in particular, the 2007 interim guidelines for 
coordinated operation of the reservoirs and the more recent 
drought contingency plans. We were, unfortunately, in the 
position of announcing the first level of shortage--the first 
tier of shortage in the Colorado River Basin in August, and it 
will take efforts to continue to develop the next level of 
agreements that are going to be necessary in that basin, but we 
have a proven track record. The Colorado River Basin can be a 
model for the type of collaboration that we need in other areas 
as well, and it will be essential to maintain that 
collaboration for our collective successes.
    It is great to be here today with colleagues from Arizona, 
Colorado, and North Dakota as we work together among the 
federal family and our non-federal partners and with Members of 
Congress to address these issues. Across the West, Interior has 
continued to utilize the best available science to improve our 
water supply projections, and those can help to inform our 
decisionmaking process to work collaboratively with our 
partners. We support the continued investments and improvements 
to help maintain our important infrastructure projects. We 
support investments in new technologies, such as water 
recycling and desalination efforts and, of course, continued 
collaboration on how to best ensure that our communities can 
utilize the federal resources that we have available.
    We appreciate Congress' attention to the severity of the 
drought conditions we are seeing in the West, and welcome your 
input as to the new tools and approaches that we can use to 
help our communities. I look forward to our continued work 
together, and again, with our partners, we will be able to 
address the ongoing challenges. I would be happy to answer any 
follow-up questions. Thank you again for your attention on this 
important issue.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Trujillo follows:]

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Senator Kelly. Thank you, Ms. Trujillo.
    Mr. Buschatzke, please proceed with your testimony.

            STATEMENT OF TOM BUSCHATZKE, DIRECTOR, 
             ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES

    Mr. Buschatzke. Thank you, Senator Kelly.
    Good afternoon, Chairman Kelly, Ranking Member Hyde-Smith, 
and members of the Subcommittee. I am Tom Buschatzke, Director 
of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Thank you for 
providing me an opportunity to testify on behalf of the State 
of Arizona. I have submitted written testimony for the record, 
and my comments today will highlight key elements of that 
testimony. A 20-year drought and climate change have had 
devastating impacts on the flow of the Colorado River and on 
the contents of Lakes Mead and Powell. A declared shortage in 
2022 will result in Arizona losing 512,000 acre-feet of water, 
or 18 percent of its total Colorado River entitlement. Impacts 
to agriculture, tribes, and municipal water users will result. 
An intense eight-month effort resulted in Arizonans coming 
together to provide financial resources and wet water to 
partially mitigate those impacts.
    In 2023, projections of Lake Mead elevations are barely 
above the trigger for an additional 80,000 acre-feet of cuts to 
Arizona. Those cuts would primarily impact tribes and municipal 
water users in my state. However, it is unlikely that 
mitigation resources will be available to address those 
additional cuts. While the 2007 guidelines in the drought 
contingency plan have slowed the decline of Lake Mead, those 
prescriptions are clearly not enough. The likelihood of deeper 
cuts in the future is high. The amount of water in Lake Powell 
is also decreasing, and the probability of the lake reaching 
critical elevations is increasing. Risks include potential 
reductions of hydropower and increased costs to tribes, 
irrigation districts, and others in Arizona. In August, 
projections of Lake Mead levels for 2023 triggered a 
consultation provision pursuant to the drought contingency plan 
in the Lower Basin. Arizona, Nevada, and California have been 
meeting pursuant to the consultation provision that targets 
protecting Lake Mead from falling below 1,020 feet elevation. 
That will be a daunting challenge.
    Additional actions to protect Lake Mead fall into two 
categories. First, mandatory cuts, or second, additional 
conservation. Arizona is working toward achieving additional 
conservation instead of greater mandatory cuts, but that will 
be a heavy lift. Success is dependent upon voluntary efforts 
among tribal and non-tribal water users within the state and 
compiling the resources to make it happen. As we move forward, 
the 2007 operating guidelines and the drought contingency plan 
have taught us how to be successful in the consultation process 
and in managing the river long-term. Those lessons learned 
include: One, be vigilant in monitoring the hydrology and 
protected reservoir elevations. To do so, we must have data and 
modeling products produced by the Bureau of Reclamation, who 
possess the best available science. Two, achieve outcomes that 
result in an equitable sharing of the benefits and risks 
attendant to the Colorado River system. Three, adhere to an 
ethic of collaboration among the states, Mexico, the United 
States' tribes, and other stakeholders in the Basin. Four, 
recognize that we are connected from Wyoming to the Sea of 
Cortez in Mexico. Five, incentivize actions that conserve water 
in Lake Mead. Six, resources for the United States and its 
agencies must be tools in the tool box, and Seven, continue 
state participation and formal discussions regarding the 
implementation of the 1944 Mexico Water Treaty.
    While we focus on enhancing the sustainability of the 
Colorado River system, we should not lose sight of other 
mechanisms to minimize or mitigate the impacts of climate 
change and drought. Maximizing the use of reclaimed or recycled 
water, improving and expanding existing infrastructure to 
increase reservoir yield and to move water, and augmenting 
water supplies through desalination, enhanced aquifer recharge, 
and improved watershed health through more effective forest 
management are all tools that need to be deployed.
    In conclusion, drought and climate change are presenting 
challenges that are likely to increase over time. Proper 
planning, management, robust conservation, and collaboration 
across political jurisdictions and among stakeholders create 
the greatest likelihood for success today and into the future. 
Thank you, and I would be willing to answer questions as well.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Buschatzke follows:]

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Senator Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Buschatzke.
    We will now go to Ms. Pitt for her opening testimony and 
then to Ms. Ellingson.
    Ms. Pitt.

          STATEMENT OF JENNIFER PITT, COLORADO RIVER 
           PROGRAM DIRECTOR, NATIONAL AUDUBON SOCIETY

    Ms. Pitt. Chairman Kelly, Ranking Member Hyde-Smith, and 
members of the Subcommittee, thank you for holding this 
important hearing on drought in the West. It really is an honor 
to testify before you today. My name is Jennifer Pitt. I am the 
Colorado River Program Director for the National Audubon 
Society.
    Others have said it, but I need to say it again--climate 
change has come barging through the front doors of the Colorado 
River Basin. The Colorado River has lost 20 percent of its 
historic flows in the past 20 years, and scientists are 
forecasting another nine percent loss with every degree of 
warming. We need to act quickly to avoid a catastrophic water 
supply crisis, and we also need long-term solutions, because as 
temperatures continue to increase, the Colorado River's water 
supply will keep shrinking. There is so much at stake. The 
Colorado River provides drinking water to 40 million people. It 
is the lifeblood for 30 federally recognized tribes. It is the 
silent utility underpinning a trillion-dollar economy. If you 
eat a salad in January, pretty much anywhere in this country, 
your lettuce is grown with it. The Basin's rivers are beloved, 
supporting recreation businesses in rural counties. These 
rivers are the region's lifeblood--habitats that support birds, 
fish, and other wildlife. People value the Colorado River in so 
many ways, not least for what it means to us culturally and 
spiritually. Stand on the river's edge and you really are 
reminded what it means to be grateful.
    In passing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, you 
have set the stage for important investments to address the 
impacts of drought and climate change, but more is needed. I 
will discuss a few and refer you to my written testimony for 
others. Emergency drought relief funding is needed to respond 
to the historic drought conditions affecting tens of millions 
of Americans. Federal investment in USGS monitoring and 
science, including OpenET, is needed so we have data that 
allows us to understand these unprecedented changes. 
Reclamation's binational program needs additional funding, 
operating under Minute 323 to the 1944 Colorado River Treaty 
with Mexico. This program is conserving water in Lake Mead and 
improving downstream riparian habitats. Investments can help 
mitigate the environmental and public health crises caused by 
the receding shoreline at California's Salton Sea and other 
saline lakes across the West. Funds are also badly needed to 
support Colorado River Basin tribes, particularly those with 
households lacking indoor water service, who suffered greatly 
from COVID-19. Funds are also needed for tribal water 
settlements to allow tribes to benefit from their water rights, 
and to reduce the uncertainty that unsettled rights imposes on 
all Colorado River water users.
    Finally, I want to address Colorado River management. 
Reclamation plays important roles as a convener, guardian of a 
process that needs to be transparent and inclusive, carrying 
out the federal trust responsibility with tribes, and as a 
science provider. Federal leadership must continue emphasizing 
commitment to collaboration and promoting the creative thinking 
that has characterized the Basin. This is a sobering and scary 
time for everyone and everything that depends on the Colorado 
River. As Congress considers priorities and funding 
opportunities, Audubon supports increasing federal investments 
and leadership for the Colorado River Basin and across the West 
to ensure federal agencies receive critically needed resources 
to build a more resilient system and mitigate the effects of 
climate change.
    Congress has several pending bills with bipartisan support 
that respond to the many needs of tribal communities and 
western states' water supply needs that we support. It is 
imperative that our communities have the resources they need to 
prepare for and respond to the drought and climate crises that 
touch every living thing.
    Thank you so much for the opportunity to testify today, and 
of course, I am happy to answer questions.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Pitt follows:]

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
    
    Senator Kelly. Thank you, Ms. Pitt.
    I will now recognize Senator Hoeven to introduce Ms. 
Ellingson.

                STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN HOEVEN, 
                 U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA

    Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Chairman Kelly and also Ranking 
Member Hyde-Smith, I appreciate it very much. I appreciate you 
holding this hearing today. I want to thank Julie Ellingson for 
joining us virtually. She is the Executive Vice President of 
the North Dakota Stockmen's Association, and in addition to 
doing an incredible job administering the Stockmen's 
Association, she and her husband have a cattle ranch, south of 
Bismarck, as well. I think they raise registered Angus, but I 
never asked her for sure, but I am guessing that is right.
    So she comes to the job, as far as the Stockmen's 
Association, you know, as somebody who grew up farming and 
ranching, and so she truly understands it from the ground up 
and has made it her livelihood. She lives it. She does not just 
advocate for our cowboys, she has lived it her whole life. I 
have worked with her on farm bills and worked with her on 
disaster assistance for our producers. Most recently, we 
secured $10 billion for farmers and ranchers, specifically $750 
million of that for our ranchers, and that is nationwide. But 
now we have to work with USDA to put that out there through the 
WHIP+ program on the farm side, and on the rancher's side we 
really have to figure out the parameters.
    I certainly look forward to working with her on that issue 
because we have just had incredible drought in our state, one 
of the toughest droughts I can ever remember. We have had 
drought throughout the West, and so this hearing on water is 
extremely important for all those farmers and ranchers and 
particularly the ranchers that are out there trying to keep 
their herd and not shorten that herd more than they have to, 
particularly for our young ranchers.
    And so today's hearing is important because it is about 
making sure that we have water available throughout the West 
for our farmers and for our ranchers so that they can do what 
they do better than anyone else in the world, and that is 
provide the highest quality, lowest cost food supply that every 
single American benefits from every single day.
    And so with that, I would sure like to again thank the 
Chairman and Ranking Member for holding this hearing and I 
appreciate this opportunity to introduce and welcome Julie 
Ellingson and her testimony today. Thank you.

STATEMENT OF JULIE SCHAFF ELLINGSON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, 
              NORTH DAKOTA STOCKMEN'S ASSOCIATION

    Ms. Ellingson. Thank you, Senator Hoeven, and good 
afternoon, Chairman Kelly, Ranking Member Hyde-Smith, and 
members of the Subcommittee. As the Senator said, my name is 
Julie Ellingson, and I am a fourth-generation beef producer 
from Saint Anthony, North Dakota. My husband and I and our five 
children raise registered and commercial Angus cattle in 
Southern Morton County. Our family has a long history in 
agriculture, and I feel very blessed to be able to pass on the 
tradition of stewardship of the land and the livestock to the 
next generation. That tradition is coupled with the use of the 
latest science and emerging technologies so we can match our 
management with the needs of our cattle and the landscape for 
mutual benefits and optimal resiliency.
    As was mentioned, I am also the Executive Vice President of 
the North Dakota Stockmen's Association, a 92-year-old trade 
organization representing more than 3,100 ranchers. In addition 
to our membership activities, we also administer our state's 
brand programs as well as the EPA Section 319 grant, which 
gives us a unique perspective on how circumstances, including 
drought, impact natural resources, as well as the local 
economies of rural America. This year, as has been described, 
has been filled with challenges, and certainly historic drought 
has been on top of the list for North Dakotans and our 
neighbors in the West. The yellows, oranges, reds, and browns 
of the drought monitor map tell the story well. Nearly the 
entire West is designated in some level of disaster, and North 
Dakota is no exception. Currently, 99.8 percent of our state 
has some drought designation, and we have set records we never 
wanted. Among those, the earliest onset of D4 [exceptional 
drought] conditions and the highest drought severity and 
coverage index in our history.
    Water, of course, is central to our management, and without 
it, everything changes. Pastures go dry, decreasing any 
available forage available to graze or to be bailed and fed 
later, and some are rendered entirely unusable because if there 
is no water for the livestock to drink, even the forage that is 
there cannot be tapped and used. In fact, water development was 
the prevailing task at the Ellingson Ranch this summer as we 
worked to combat the drought. Our crew back home installed five 
new miles of pipeline and implemented 13 new water tanks, as 
well as renovated an abandoned well to help respond to the 
water demands of our herd.
    Changes to grazing have extended to public lands as well. 
In North Dakota, livestock producers work with the Forest 
Service and the Bureau of Land Management to manage about 1.7 
million acres, and I know that does not seem like a lot to many 
of you on the Committee, as you have larger federal land 
expanses in your home states, but those acres are significant, 
not only to our state's cattle industry, but our state's 
ecology. Whether on private- or public-land grazing allotments, 
North Dakota ranchers have had to make hard decisions in order 
to reduce numbers to prevent overgrazing and encourage regrowth 
of needed grasses.
    Because the Stockmen's Association administers the brand 
inspection programs, I have had a chance to see these decisions 
play out in real time. Many have reduced their herd sizes 
because the forage simply is not there. We have seen a 24 
percent increase in sales at auction markets this year, with 
North Dakota ranchers selling 148,000 cows as of July. The 
average for an entire year is 200,000. It is a painstaking 
decision for families because those cows are not only the 
foundation of their herd, but represent generations of 
selection and improvement that cannot be replicated overnight.
    Of course, drought causes other threats too--fire, perhaps 
the most widespread and destructive. As of Monday, fires have 
burned nearly six million acres across the nation and about 
125,000 acres across North Dakota, nearly double that of last 
year. Together, fire and drought impact our livestock and our 
ability to steward the land. Ranchers and the livestock grazing 
we manage prioritize retention of needed grasses that are great 
forage for our livestock but also critical in feeding wildlife, 
providing habitat, and storing carbon on a vast scale. Ruminant 
grazing increases grassland's potential to store carbon in 
complex root systems, making these ecosystems more resilient to 
all threats, including drought.
    As this Committee, this Congress, and this Administration 
look to ways to make landscapes more resilient and to increase 
conservation, using grazing to manage grasslands and optimize 
their potential will be key. Cattle producers are grateful for 
the assistance we have received to respond to emergency 
conditions, and a special thanks goes out to Senator Hoeven for 
your work to provide additional allowances in the Emergency 
Livestock Assistance Program (ELAP) to offset the cost of 
transportation of feed. As we move forward, hoping and praying 
for rain, I encourage this Committee and the Administration to 
think about how we can prevent the need to examine response to 
a drought--that is, how do we make landscapes more resilient to 
drought? As a rancher, I know that landscapes carefully managed 
through livestock grazing are more resilient. Healthy 
ecosystems must be created, nurtured, and maintained and it 
takes coordination with all parties. Healthy landscapes take 
investment from each of us, and ranchers are already doing 
their part.
    Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I look forward to 
your questions.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Ellingson follows:]

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    Senator Kelly. Thank you, Ms. Ellingson, and thank you 
again to all of our witnesses for their testimony. We are now 
going open up the hearing to questions from members. Members 
will be recognized for five minutes each. I am going start with 
a few questions and then be followed by Ranking Member Hyde-
Smith.
    This first question is primarily for Ms. Trujillo. I will 
have a follow up for Mr. Buschatzke and Ms. Pitt.
    Ms. Trujillo, I want to focus on infrastructure, because 
Congress needs to think bigger than programs that fund short-
term drought relief. We need to upgrade assets and deploy 
technology to adapt to climate change over the long-term. And 
more can be done to improve the water efficiency of our dams 
and irrigation canals in the West. These systems are often over 
50 years old and they leak a lot of water. The bipartisan 
infrastructure bill that passed the Senate in August provides 
$8.3 billion to repair our aging western water infrastructure, 
deploy water recycling and desalinization technology, invest in 
watershed health, and enhance surface and groundwater storage. 
I am proud to be a part of the core group of Senators--
Democrats and Republicans--who secured this funding.
    Ms. Trujillo, how will Interior use this infrastructure 
funding to improve the situation at Lake Mead and Lake Powell?
    Ms. Trujillo. Thank you, Senator. Again, your leadership is 
very much appreciated on these issues and I was happy to 
testify in support of that legislation here in the Committee. 
We will utilize the authorities and the funding that will be 
received to continue to build upon the good collaborative 
success that we have had in the Colorado River Basin. I want to 
reiterate what my colleagues have said earlier--we have a 
crisis. It is a very serious situation, and we are working 
together to innovate and utilize the authorities that we get 
from Congress and the funding that we get to help build upon 
those programs. We have additional conservation programs in the 
Lower Basin that are going to be available for us to help with 
respect to those reservoir levels, and in the Upper Basin, we 
will continue to work closely with the partners there as well.
    So I appreciate the opportunity to build upon the success 
and look forward to working with you as that moves forward.
    Senator Kelly. Can you give a specific example of an 
infrastructure project that could improve the situation in Lake 
Mead and Lake Powell?
    Ms. Trujillo. Absolutely. One of them is connected with the 
binational process and development of additional capabilities 
at the Minute 242 Well Field in Arizona, and will help make the 
system more efficient and allow us to retain more of the 
surface water storage that is available. That is a good example 
of that capability.
    Senator Kelly. And by capturing water in other places, we 
can keep more in Lake Mead and Lake Powell?
    Ms. Trujillo. Absolutely, and the expanded authorities that 
we have in the water recycling category as well will do exactly 
the same thing.
    Senator Kelly. Mr. Buschatzke, same question for you. Can 
you think of some examples on how this funding is going to help 
Arizona and the West?
    Mr. Buschatzke. Yes, Chairman Kelly.
    In Yuma, Arizona, the area that Jennifer Pitt referred to 
in her remarks about lettuce in the wintertime, there are 
infrastructure improvements that can make sure that over-
deliveries in the lower part of the river do not occur. That 
water will not go to waste if those infrastructure improvements 
are made. We also are looking again at paying for conservation 
with willing partners, and I think some of the funding could be 
available for that. It is not necessarily infrastructure, but 
it will result in more water in Lake Mead and leveraging money 
that the state has made available to me for that purpose within 
our state.
    We are working with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, 
the Metropolitan Water District for Southern California, and 
the Central Arizona Project on a potential recycling project in 
Southern California that would allow that recycled water to be 
used in Southern California instead of being discharged into 
the ocean, and the other partners could share in some of the 
benefits of that water in their state.
    So those are just a couple of the examples. Infrastructure 
funding and the funding available in that bill are critical. We 
are looking at in-state brackish groundwater desalination, 
looking at doing ocean desalination in the Sea of Cortez with 
Mexico under Minute 323. So there is no end to the list of 
potential projects that could benefit Arizona, the Lower Basin, 
and Lake Mead.
    Senator Kelly. Thank you, Mr. Buschatzke.
    I will now recognize Senator Hoeven for five minutes.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't want to 
get ahead of the Ranking Member.
    Senator Kelly. Oh, sorry.
    Senator Hoeven. I would defer to the Ranking Member.
    Senator Kelly. Yes, let's do that.
    [Laughter.]
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Either way.
    My first question is going to be for Ms. Ellingson. What 
sort of impacts are you currently seeing from the drought on 
farmers and ranchers in rural communities, and how it is 
impacting them compared to years past?
    Ms. Ellingson. Thank you, Ranking Member Hyde-Smith.
    Significant impacts. As I described, this has really been a 
historic drought. And so livestock producers have been faced 
with some tough decisions in order to respond to that. 
Decisions like merely culling their herd, or in some extreme 
cases, liquidating their herd. Also, sending animals a far 
distance away to be fed, or sourcing expensive feed, which is 
hard to come by and expensive to haul. Those are significant 
decisions, and of course, agriculture is the foundation of our 
state's economy. And so not only does it have impacts to the 
livestock industry, it also has impacts to ``Main Street'' in 
our overall state economy. And so serious issues that are 
impacting as we work through the conditions at hand.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Okay, and in terms of mitigating 
drought-related stress on farms and ranches, which programs and 
contracts that are offered through USDA's Natural Resources 
Conservation Service do you and people in your position, the 
folks in the cattle producing industry, which one of those 
programs do you rely on the most?
    Ms. Ellingson. There is a whole array of programs, of 
course, that livestock producers benefit from. The first that 
comes to mind would be the EQIP program through the Natural 
Resources Conservation Service. Certainly, there are 
opportunities for cost share to employ best management 
practices, whether it is rotational grazing, water development 
and such, but that certainly is an important one. Similarly, we 
have some state programs that have helped support our 
producers' efforts to put some of those same types of practices 
on the ground and, again, helping long-term mitigation of 
drought and other challenges.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. And what potential consequences would 
your industry face if any of those projects were delayed or 
backlogged or slowed down greatly?
    Ms. Ellingson. There would be significant challenges. 
Again, those are our opportunities to not only deal with the 
right now, but the long-term sustainability of our operations. 
And of course, the sustainability of livestock grazing has 
implications for wildlife and for the storage of carbon and 
other areas. And so those programs are very meaningful, and we 
encourage the continued support of them.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Kelly. Thank you, Senator.
    And now that we have the order figured out, Senator Hoeven.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, I appreciate it 
very much.
    Julie, you talked about the impacts of the drought this 
year. Talk a little bit about the impacts if this becomes a 
multi-year drought?
    Ms. Ellingson. Yes, so while we hope and pray that that is 
not the case, we are prepared for it with the seriousness of 
that. Of course, this year our producers haven't had the 
significant drought last year like many within the Committee 
here, but there were pockets last year within our state as 
well. But this year, producers are relying on the reserves that 
they have in their hay pile, again, having a head start because 
of that storage.
    However, as we burn through those resources, and those 
resources are incredibly scarce as our neighbors across the 
West also are vying for the same ones, it will become even more 
serious. It is a long term to replenish the rangeland and to 
get back to normal, if you will. And so that's very much top of 
mind, and that also is indicating some of the decisions that 
producers are faced with right now, downsizing their herd, and 
again, sources of livestock feed for their herds.
    Senator Hoeven. Right. And that is particularly true as we 
work to get our younger ranchers into business and have gotten 
some into business, this is a particular challenge for them, 
isn't it? And keeping them going.
    Ms. Ellingson. Absolutely. There is nothing that livestock 
producers want more than to be able to pass their operations on 
to the next generation. And so the daily decisions, whether it 
is natural resources, attention to natural resources in our 
care, ushering in the next generation to carry on that 
tradition is so vitally important. And so, concerned about 
those young producers, again, picking up the baton and doing 
the good things on the land is top of mind for us as well.
    Senator Hoeven. Yes. And you also mentioned the grazing on 
public lands in North Dakota and other places in the West and 
the important role that those allotments play. Are there steps 
that the Administration should take to provide more flexibility 
to ranchers looking for additional sources of forage?
    Ms. Ellingson. Yes, that certainly would be helpful. And as 
I indicated, those public lands are certainly significant to 
our livestock industry. And so continued communication and 
coordination with the producers that are grazing on those 
allotments is critical. Certainly, the importance of caring for 
those lands is just like if it is their own private land in the 
significance to their operation, whether it is having an open 
dialogue, viewing livestock grazing as a critical component to 
sustaining those landscapes as well as addressing issues like 
the overstocking of wild horses and burros, dealing with fire 
mitigation, all important to the long-term sustainability of 
those allotments and in dealing with the drought at hand.
    Senator Hoeven. Yes. And the Ranking Member actually asked 
one of the questions I was going to ask in terms of some of 
these other programs that can be helpful. And one of the 
programs, of course, is ELAP, the Emergency Livestock 
Assistance Program, which we now have to help with the 
transportation cost of water as well as the transportation cost 
of feed, but pairing that up with the livestock forage program 
and others, that is something we have to have on a long-term 
basis, right, not just on a one-year deal for drought?
    Ms. Ellingson. Absolutely. The enhancements that were added 
to the Emergency Livestock Assistance Program to offset the 
cost of transportation are significant--meaningful to every 
livestock producer in North Dakota this year. We are 
appreciative of that additional support. Other support 
programs, like the Livestock Forage Program, also under the 
USDA emergency umbrella, are significant to our producers, and 
keeping them maintained in a permanent status is important 
because that helps livestock producers plan and make the best 
decisions under serious conditions.
    Senator Hoeven. Right, thank you.
    And then, Secretary Trujillo, in North Dakota, as far as 
moving water east from the Missouri River, we have the Red 
River Valley Water Supply Project and we have the ENDAWS 
alternate supply--and ENDAWS stands for Eastern North Dakota 
Alternate Water Supply Project. In January, the Bureau of Rec 
completed its final EIS, environmental impact statement, and 
signed a record of decision on ENDAWS. Given the extreme 
drought in our state, will you support Reclamation's work to 
bring the Red River Valley Water Supply Project--in particular, 
ENDAWS alternate water supply--online? Will you work with us to 
do that?
    Ms. Trujillo. Thank you, Senator. Absolutely, yes. That is 
an important project and we are supporting it moving forward as 
quickly as possible. It is a great example of the connection 
between surface water and groundwater and the need to have 
backup supplies and be innovative, again, as others have said, 
that is what we need to do right now.
    Senator Hoeven. Fantastic. Thank you for that. And please 
come out and we will give you the tour and we would love to 
host you.
    Ms. Trujillo. Thank you. That would be nice.
    Senator Hoeven. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Kelly. Thank you, Senator.
    Ms. Pitt, I want to back up and talk a little bit more 
about the infrastructure bill, the $8.3 billion to repair aging 
western water infrastructure. What does this funding do to help 
ecosystem health?
    Ms. Pitt. Thank you for the question. There are all kinds 
of infrastructure that agricultural producers rely on, and 
particularly in the higher elevation reaches of the Colorado 
River Basin, we have seen some really impressive examples of 
infrastructure investments. For instance, allowing a rancher to 
put some small, low-head structures in a creek on their 
property and that, in turn, is holding water on the property 
longer during the season, extending their water supply, 
allowing for additional groundwater recharge, improving the 
health of wetlands, and generally improving ecosystem health.
    There are other examples. I read about one recently up on 
Henrys Fork in southwestern Wyoming, where funding was used to 
convert a ranch from flood irrigation to sprinklers, and that 
actually is preventing salt from loading in the river, again, 
creating additional resilience for the rancher in that they can 
extend their water supply longer through the year because they 
are not using so much with the flood, and it is improving 
stream health.
    So I think there are a lot of win-wins with ranchers who 
are taking good care of the land. Additional federal support 
for infrastructure can also help improve the ecosystem and 
ecosystem services that we need to scale up right now in order 
to improve the health of these watersheds, which really are the 
source of our water supply, all the way down the river.
    Senator Kelly. Well, thank you, Ms. Pitt.
    And Senator Barrasso, if you are ready, I will turn it over 
to you.
    Senator Barrasso. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman, and 
thank you to all of our witnesses today.
    Ms. Ellingson, as you know, drought is a serious issue in 
my home state of Wyoming and of course, as you mentioned, all 
across the West. Particularly hard hit have been our ranchers 
and our farmers. They are the backbone of our rural communities 
in Wyoming and the rural economy. In discussing the drought's 
impact on ranchers and farmers, there was an article in the 
Sheridan Press where Linda Benzel of the USDA Farm Service 
Agency in Sheridan in Johnson County in Wyoming was quoted as 
saying this about two weeks ago. She said, ``This year has been 
extremely dry. Producers have had a lack of feed, a lack of 
stock water due to the drought, have seen reservoirs drying up, 
a shortage of hay and have had to buy extra hay.'' She goes on 
to say, ``People have been having to haul in extra feed from 
out of the county and out of state and some have had to sell 
down their cattle. There have been people who have had to 
liquidate some of their herd.'' She said, ``Last year it was 
dry, but it compounded this year. The drought never let up for 
two years in a row. It has caused hardship for producers.''
    Ms. Ellingson, is this what you are seeing and hearing on 
the ground back home in North Dakota as well?
    Ms. Ellingson. Yes, Senator Barrasso, in a word--yes, 
absolutely. The impacts that you describe are absolutely what 
our producers are faced with from border to border, north to 
south and east to west. In fact, the statement that was read 
from that excerpt really could have been about our state and I 
know many others across the country.
    Senator Barrasso. Thank you.
    Ms. Ellingson. As we indicated, we didn't have the serious 
drought statewide like you all did last year, but we 
unfortunately are making up for a lot of lost time. The same 
challenges related to sourcing feed and reducing herds that you 
are experiencing in Wyoming are what we are experiencing now. 
One example, we have a member from the Northeast quadrant of 
our state who talked about and had the opportunity to hay some 
CRP ground in the Southeast part of our state. They had to make 
58 trips in order to bring that hay home, the equivalent of 
30,000 miles. Put another way, that is traveling around the 
world--25,000 miles is the circumference of the Earth. And so 
significant distances, yes.
    Senator Barrasso. Thank you.
    Ms. Trujillo, so it is clear ranchers and farmers are 
struggling, not just in one limited location. What do you 
believe the Department can do to prioritize providing more 
water for our ranching and farming communities out west in the 
short-term and the long-term?
    Ms. Trujillo. Thank you, Senator.
    We are working very closely with our partner federal 
agencies such as USDA on exactly these issues. We have, within 
the Reclamation program, lots of opportunities to expand water 
supplies and they are working collaboratively with farmers in 
all of the western states. With respect to the Department of 
Agriculture programs, we understand they have additional 
capabilities available and they will be working to supply those 
and use them innovatively to be able to meet constituents' 
needs.
    Senator Barrasso. The Family Farm Alliance, Ms. Trujillo, 
has submitted written testimony for the record and I ask 
unanimous consent that it be part of the record.
    Senator Kelly. Without objection.
    Senator Barrasso. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    [Written testimony from the Family Farm Alliance follows:]

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    Senator Barrasso. In their written testimony, the Family 
Farm Alliance states with regard to water storage projects, 
``Properly designed and constructed surface storage projects 
provide additional water management flexibility to better meet 
downstream, urban, industrial, and agricultural water needs to 
improve flood control, generate clean hydropower, provide 
recreation opportunities, and create additional instream flows 
that can benefit downstream fish and wildlife species.''
    Yes or no, do you agree with that statement?
    Ms. Trujillo. I do and I was able to see that testimony 
earlier today and I really appreciate their partnership. I 
think working with storage, both underground and aboveground, 
in ways that can help maximize our flexibilities, helps us a 
lot in lots of different contexts.
    Senator Barrasso. And as you know, cattle ranching is vital 
to my state's rural economy. How does the Administration intend 
to ensure that drought does not cause interruptions in food 
production for the country?
    Ms. Trujillo. Well, that is something that we are working 
on closely with partners as well, and we recognize the 
hardships that many of our farmers and ranchers have endured in 
this year in particular, and in past years, and also tried to 
make sure that we have tools available to meet the emergency 
needs, and build resilience. Those are the types of programs 
that we are looking forward to in the infrastructure context 
and our other programs as well.
    Senator Barrasso. A final question: Are there things that 
we could have done, say ten years ago, that would put us in a 
better place today to manage the drought and you know, building 
more storage? Would that have been helpful to capture and store 
water during the wet years?
    Ms. Trujillo. It probably depends on a place-by-place basis 
to answer the question. In some places, we have available 
storage that we have been able to utilize. In other places, we 
see continued challenges in our infrastructure that we know we 
need to continue to improve upon. The aging infrastructure 
issue is an important priority for us. Building additional 
capabilities is something we want to work on.
    Senator Barrasso. Thank you.
    Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Kelly. Thank you, Senator.
    Mr. Buschatzke, I think it was last year that the snowpack 
in the Rockies was about 90 percent--close to 90 percent of 
normal, but the runoff into the river was 25 or 30 percent or 
so, which is rather concerning. And if we see this continue, 
Basin States will face a second round of water curtailments. We 
originally planned for this to happen around 2026, but new data 
suggests that we need to prepare for this much sooner than we 
anticipated. So Mr. Buschatzke, what are the seven states doing 
now to prepare for this? If you could outline that for us?
    Mr. Buschatzke. Senator Kelly, the outcome that you 
described in terms of relatively average snowpack, but with 
very small runoff, is something of huge concern to us moving 
forward. The seven Basin States have been meeting since about 
June, and have a series of meetings scheduled between now and 
the end of the year. One of the things that we are talking 
about is what we expect the future flow of the river to be. We 
have seen reductions of flow over the last 20 to 30 years, and 
we need to come to some level of understanding and planning 
about what we can count on into the future and then ratchet 
down our action items and our water use to match what we think 
the river is going to be.
    Within the Lower Basin, again, I mentioned the consultation 
provision for the drought contingency plan, and we also have 
been meeting to find ways to protect the 1,020-foot elevation 
in Lake Mead, again, talking about additional conservation 
efforts and perhaps additional cuts, if it comes to that, to 
help protect the declining levels of Lake Mead. So I think we 
will continue to work on that between now and the end of the 
year, try to put a program in place, hopefully, by the end of 
the year or get as far as we can. The longer we wait to take 
those actions for Lake Powell and Lake Mead, the more you have 
to conserve or the more you have to cut, to achieve the same 
desired result out into the future.
    Senator Kelly. And for folks who are watching this, if you 
do not understand the science behind this, maybe you can talk a 
little bit about that, you know, how do we wind up with 90 
percent or so of snowpack and only 25 or 30 percent of the 
normal amount of water into the river?
    Mr. Buschatzke. Senator Kelly, we believe that is a prime 
example of what climate change is doing. It is hotter. It is 
drier. And the snow either sublimates or does not run off into 
the river, it soaks into the ground. In the prior year, the 
summer precipitation, which in Arizona we call the monsoon, was 
a ``non-soon.'' We had very little precipitation. So the 
watershed was very dry. The soil is very dry and a lot of the 
water just soaked into the ground. We have also seen the snow 
melting earlier in time. We have also seen vegetation growing 
sooner, which, of course, then uses more of the water as well.
    So those are the kind of elements that all connect to that 
outcome that you describe and we have not just seen it last 
year, we have seen it in prior years as well.
    Senator Kelly. Thank you.
    And Ms. Trujillo, are you confident an interstate agreement 
will be reached, and is Reclamation participating in this?
    Ms. Trujillo. Thank you, Senator.
    As I mentioned earlier, we have a proven track record of 
developing interstate agreements in the Colorado River Basin. I 
am confident we will continue that track record and Reclamation 
is absolutely in the middle of all of the ongoing discussions. 
I want to compliment the work of my colleague, Tom Buschatzke, 
and others who have been rolling up their sleeves and really 
trying to be out in front of the future conditions that we may 
be seeing.
    Senator Kelly. And Mr. Buschatzke, how confident are you 
that another drought contingency agreement is going to be 
reached?
    Mr. Buschatzke. Senator, failure is not an option. Forty 
million people and millions of acres of farmland rely on this. 
We faced this with the drought contingency plan in 2018 and 
2019. We had hard choices to make, but we got there. We will 
get there again. I believe Arizona and the other states do not 
want an outcome in which perhaps the Secretary might dictate 
winners and losers, and we certainly do not want to be in a 
courtroom in which a judge dictates winners and losers. So 
those are several motivations, but we will get there 
eventually, although it will not be easy.
    And I also want to compliment Assistant Secretary Trujillo 
for the help that Reclamation has provided and is helping 
provide to us in that regard. It is absolutely essential. And 
again, as I mentioned earlier, the data and the modeling 
project--the modeling outcomes that they are projecting for us 
are critical to those discussions. So we will get there, 
because we have to. We do not have a choice.
    Senator Kelly. Thank you.
    I will now recognize Senator Lee for five minutes.
    Senator Lee. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    The impact of the drought on my home State of Utah has been 
quite severe--really severe, in fact. The U.S. Drought Monitor 
shows that 100 percent of my state is in severe, extreme, or 
exceptional drought, and it has been, unfortunately, for some 
time.
    [U.S. Drought Monitor chart for the State of Utah, dated 
September 28, 2021 follows:]

[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    Senator Lee. We all know that drought has different impacts 
on different areas and even different people within different 
areas. Along the highly developed Wasatch Front region of my 
state, it may mean that you take steps to conserve water, 
perhaps with your lawn or otherwise. We appreciate those 
efforts and we are thankful to people for doing their part in 
where they live. But for other people, like farmers and 
ranchers, the impacts of drought can be much more direct and 
severe. Many grazing allotments in Utah have been cut by 20 
percent in capacity and the forage just is not there for the 
cattle and the sheep to graze on.
    [Photograph of cattle with limited forage follows:]

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    Senator Lee. We are seeing this problem. In fact, in some 
Utah counties, hay production is down to just 20 percent. Some 
producers are ordering feed from faraway places, places as far 
away as Nebraska. Ordinarily, that is not something they have 
to do in this part of the country.
    Rivers that normally provide water to our producers are 
down to a trickle, forcing us to ration. Throughout the summer 
months, producers were forced to cull anywhere from a 1,000 to 
1,500 head a week. Again, that is a 1,000 to 1,500 animals a 
week that were killed and thereby wasted just as a result of 
the drought. States need a change so that they can more readily 
address the drought issues that they face--like those that Utah 
faces, in particular. Everywhere I go in my state, I hear of 
the need for increased water storage infrastructure. 
Unfortunately, bureaucratic federal processes often stand in 
the way of safe, effective, responsible drought mitigation 
efforts.
    Ms. Trujillo, can you tell me how many water storage 
infrastructure projects are currently undergoing NEPA 
evaluation by your Department?
    Ms. Trujillo. Thank you, Senator Lee. I do not know 
offhand, but I wanted to acknowledge that I had the pleasure of 
working very closely with CUPCAO [Central Utah Project 
Completion Act Office] in their construction efforts, and the 
storage elements that that project provides are beneficial to 
Utah, especially during these drought issues.
    Senator Lee. Thank you. I assume you do have access to that 
information about the number of water storage infrastructure 
projects that are currently undergoing NEPA analysis by your 
Department?
    Ms. Trujillo. I can work with our folks at Reclamation----
    Senator Lee. That would be great.
    Ms. Trujillo [continuing]. And try to get that back to you 
as soon as possible.
    Senator Lee. Thank you. If you get that to us in the next 
week, that would be very helpful.
    And can you tell me roughly the average amount of time that 
is required to complete an EIS for water infrastructure 
projects?
    Ms. Trujillo. I do not know that off the top of my head, 
but we can look into that. I know there are several storage 
projects, for example, in California, that we are working on 
and in other areas that are important to maintain that process.
    Senator Lee. Thank you. I appreciate your willingness to 
get that information for me.
    In our Committee markup of the Energy Infrastructure Act 
back in July, just a couple months ago, I introduced an 
amendment modeled off of an existing program, one that is 
facilitated by the Department of Transportation. It is called 
the Surface Transportation Project Delivery Program. This is a 
program for which all states are eligible. It allows the 
Secretary of Transportation to assign, and for the state 
voluntarily to assume, the Secretary's responsibilities for 
NEPA for one or more highway projects, as states feel that they 
can handle.
    Mr. Buschatzke, both Utah and Arizona participate in that 
voluntary program in the transportation context. Now, 
constituents in my state have told me that this program has 
greatly expedited the rate in which they can start work on 
certain critical transportation infrastructure projects that 
the state in question chooses to prioritize. They appreciate 
being able to take up these projects on a case-by-case basis. 
Do you think that such a program could be helpful in developing 
water infrastructure projects in your state in curbing the 
effects of the West's prolonged and devastating drought?
    Mr. Buschatzke. Senator Lee, I'm not hugely familiar with 
that program in Arizona, but I know the Department of 
Transportation is using that program and I know that often when 
there is categorical exclusion for NEPA, it works really well. 
I do know that in my experience with these NEPA projects, the 
proponents are looking for a reduction in the time, a reduction 
in transactional costs, but also looking for robust processes 
that can stand the test for litigation. So I think there is a 
balance there in terms of how that program could work on the 
infrastructure side, and I think there is an outcome in which 
we can get to a place where we still have the necessary robust 
NEPA process and get to a point where infrastructure projects 
can be accelerated while still protecting the environment and 
going through the role of the NEPA elements that need to be 
looked at in that process.
    Senator Lee. Thank you. I see my time is expired. I will 
note, just to reiterate what you said, I have a list here of a 
number of categorical exclusions that we have seen in Arizona 
on this. It appears to have gone well and has preserved the 
environmental interests at stake, doing so in a way that helps 
things move forward.
    Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Senator Kelly. Thank you, Senator.
    I will now recognize Senator Hyde-Smith.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
    Ms. Trujillo, during your confirmation hearing earlier this 
year, you were asked for your views on how to strike a balance 
between environmental and economic views and impacts. You 
responded by saying you are committed to trying to work with 
Congress and stakeholders and tribes, farmers and cities to 
find that said balance. Economically, farmers, ranchers, and 
rural communities are, as you well know, extremely important, 
not just for my state, but for the entire nation. What is being 
done at the federal level to ensure that maintenance backlogs 
within BOR are being addressed?
    Ms. Trujillo. Thank you, Senator.
    I think a lot of the discussion today has touched on the 
importance of maintaining our programs that help support the 
farming and ranching communities around the West. I think there 
is a need to talk about improved infrastructure and the need 
for continued innovation and water recycling type programs, but 
our maintenance and operation issues are a priority that does 
tie carefully with respect, for example, to our dam safety 
programs, and that may be what you are referring to, but I 
think we are trying to make sure that we can continue to 
provide efficient and reliable water supplies to all of the 
communities that benefit from our programs.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Okay. I would like to discuss the 
WaterSMART initiative, which both the Bureau of Reclamation and 
USDA are familiar with. This federal program works 
cooperatively with states, tribes, and local entities to 
prioritize water supply and modernize existing infrastructure 
to help resolve rural communities' water conflicts. As of 
September 2nd of this year, Reclamation has selected 227 
projects across the West to be funded with $73.2 million in 
WaterSMART funding across the western states. Given this large 
investment to update water storage infrastructure to combat 
widespread drought, what are you doing to prioritize this 
program in order to ensure that these rural communities have 
vital access to more water?
    Ms. Trujillo. Thank you, Senator, for acknowledging that 
the WaterSMART program is a very effective and popular program 
within our Reclamation portfolio. Congress authorized some of 
the elements of that program over ten years ago, and it has 
been something that we have continued to build upon in our 
annual budgeting process, and continue to think through how to 
best evaluate the request for expanded capabilities. It is 
something that we will continue to do in that regard. It is a 
good program and we appreciate Congressional support for it.
    Senator Hyde-Smith. Great, thank you.
    Senator Kelly. And just to follow up on the Senator's 
question about the WaterSMART program, Ms. Pitt, can you 
provide some examples of how these grants could be used for 
climate resilience in the Colorado River Basin?
    Ms. Pitt. Thank you. You know, community resilience to 
climate change can be improved with investments in nature-based 
solutions. WaterSMART investments that help farmers and 
ranchers make improvements on their properties in particular 
can help them extend their water supply as well as improve the 
health of their properties. And I think the examples that I 
gave earlier with respect to low head structures in streams as 
well as sprinkler pivot irrigation systems replacing flood are 
two good examples of how WaterSMART investments can, at scale, 
really help us with water supply and ecosystem health.
    Senator Kelly. Thank you.
    I want to pivot here for a second to something I look at 
nearly every single week. I take a look at the levels of water 
in Lake Mead, especially, but also Lake Powell, so this is for 
Ms. Trujillo and Mr. Buschatzke. I want to talk about these 
latest predictions for those two reservoirs--Mead and Powell. 
In August, the Bureau of Reclamation issued a two-year 
projection that water levels at the Hoover Dam would remain 
below 1,075 feet above sea level and that triggers Tier 1 of 
the drought contingency plan and the water cutbacks for Arizona 
and Nevada. Lake Powell would also lose water but remain above 
the minimum power pool level, and that is the elevation level 
where the Glen Canyon Dam would have to pause its hydropower 
operations.
    In September, though, Reclamation issued a new five-year 
projection that painted a bleaker picture. Lake Powell could 
approach dead pool by 2022, and Lake Mead's probability of 
entering Tier 2 cutbacks by 2023 increased, and I think 
everybody benefits from using the best available science. I'm a 
big believer in that because we need to know what we are up 
against here.
    So Ms. Trujillo, could you walk us through why these 
projections changed from what we saw before September to what 
we saw with the five-year projection?
    Ms. Trujillo. Absolutely, Senator, thank you. And part of 
the answer involves the continued desire for us to evolve and 
utilize the best available science and make sure that we can 
communicate effectively with a variety of people who are 
watching this information. The Reclamation folks produce, on a 
monthly basis, the 24-month study analysis, and then on a 
regular basis, the five-year projections. We have been doing 
that for several years, but we are continuing to try to improve 
upon the capabilities in those reports. The most recent changes 
have involved clarification of the timeframe that we are using 
to feed into them, so instead of using a 100-year record, we 
have focused more specifically on a 30-year record because that 
accurately projects what we anticipate we will be seeing in the 
future. We have done that previously, but we have been focusing 
on it in this most recent projection.
    An additional change involved an assumption that relates to 
Upper Basin additional releases into Lake Powell, and we are 
not continuing that assumption, because we are not sure what 
the projected drought response actions are going to be. So we 
want to be safe and conservative about what we are doing there. 
So those are two examples of how we have changed, but we are 
working very collaboratively with the other folks in the Basin 
on how to do that.
    Senator Kelly. And the switch from the 100-year dataset to 
the 30-year, was it because historically as you are trying to 
do these projections, the 30-year dataset was turning out to be 
more accurate in making future predictions?
    Ms. Trujillo. That is absolutely correct. The 100-year 
projections included some of the very, very wet years that we 
are not anticipating to see going forward. And so that was 
making the results skewed in that regard. And again, we had 
been doing both of the analyses for some time, but are now 
focusing on the shorter-term range and we think that is more 
accurate going forward.
    Senator Kelly. Well, let me just transition then to back to 
Mr. Buschatzke here. What are your views on Reclamation's data 
and how does it affect state planning?
    Mr. Buschatzke. Senator Kelly, I welcome the more 
conservative approach that Reclamation has decided to use. For 
probably at least six years that I'm aware of, we have looked 
at removing the historical record prior to 1931, and that 
hydrologic record then matches very closely with the 30-year 
record now that Reclamation is using. In the drought 
contingency plan, we looked at that same kind of 30-year period 
in terms of bending the probability curve to better protect 
Lake Powell and Lake Mead. So it is not something that is brand 
new, but again, I welcome this more conservative approach. I 
think it is incumbent upon us as water managers to use that 
more conservative approach and plan for the drier years rather 
than the wetter years.
    I will also say that approach has raised the bar again for 
the necessary conservation action items that we need to take to 
protect Lake Mead and Lake Powell. And if it is wetter than 
this more conservative approach, I will do my happy dance, 
which I do not think anyone wants to see, but we will plan for 
that drier future within our state and using those more 
conservative projections gives us more leeway to deal with the 
future.
    Senator Kelly. Let's hope at some point we get to see that 
dance. But I want to commend you and all Arizona state 
stakeholders for developing a state-specific drought mitigation 
plan that will see us through these initial drought 
curtailments in our state. And even though we are about to lose 
18 percent of our Colorado River water allocation, remarkably, 
most Arizonans are not going to notice this. It is going to be 
transparent to them.
    But one important, very important community that is going 
to feel the pain of this is the farmers in central Arizona. 
Many of these farms grow cotton, others grow cattle feed for 
our local dairy farms, which are top agricultural products in 
our state.
    So Mr. Buschatzke, what can be done right now and into next 
year to help our central Arizona farmers?
    Mr. Buschatzke. So Senator Kelly, our central Arizona 
farmers maintained the right to pump groundwater that they 
received in the 1980 Groundwater Code with, of course, 
efficiency and conservation requirements. The state has made 
$40 million available to those farmers for an infrastructure 
and efficiency program that will help them. Water users with 
higher priority water, like cities, tribes, and industrial 
users, are sending some of their water to those farmers in 
return for eventually getting a credit back, for the use of 
that water by the farmers. So we have put together a very 
robust mitigation plan honoring the priority system within our 
state for water rights. Yet, despite that factor, projections 
in 2018 and 2019 were that they would still have to fallow 30 
to 40 percent of their land. I haven't been able to get an 
updated number since then.
    However, the other option that they are also pursuing is 
through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Regional 
Conservation Partnership Program. They have an application in 
those irrigation districts to the Federal Government for some 
financial help for infrastructure and efficiency improvements. 
So we are doing the best we can to help somewhat mitigate those 
water users, but we cannot fully mitigate the losses of water 
that occur to them because we are honoring the water right 
priority system within our state.
    Senator Kelly. When they fallow the land, there are--and 
you mentioned some--but is there any sort of guarantee that 
they are going to be compensated for doing that?
    Mr. Buschatzke. Again, the compensation that we are 
providing to them is really about them being able to more 
effectively and efficiently move their water and use their 
water so that the fallowing of the land is less than what it 
otherwise would be without that program. So straight-up 
mitigation for just the fallowing is not really available to 
them, but we hope that they can largely stay in business 
through this mitigation program, and moving into the future, 
which is going to be very different for them moving forward. 
They are not going to be able to farm the way they have farmed 
historically and it is a real paradigm shift to the 
agricultural community within the Central Arizona Project in 
central and southern Arizona.
    Senator Kelly. Well, let's continue to work together to 
make sure we have the best possible outcome here.
    And Ms. Trujillo, a follow-up question for you on this. Can 
Interior and maybe the Department of Agriculture do more to 
support these central Arizona farmers?
    Ms. Trujillo. Thank you, Senator. We look forward to 
working with you and the partners in Arizona on exactly that. 
The programs that we have available are designed to help 
farmers and ranchers in those types of situations. And again, I 
look forward to working with USDA on trying to make sure we can 
meet the most needs as possible.
    Senator Kelly. Thank you.
    And Ms. Pitt, I understand that you have also spent years 
in Arizona working on these Colorado River issues. So thank you 
again for being here today. And Audubon is part of a coalition 
of conservation organizations that have led efforts to restore 
and maintain endangered species along the Colorado River and to 
maintain their habitats. Partnerships with farmers, state and 
local governments, and other water users are key to making this 
all work. I would add that tribal governments are important 
players too, because they hold substantial water rights in the 
West.
    Are there tribes in the Lower Basin who are eager to do 
more to help, and what can Congress do to empower them?
    Ms. Pitt. Thank you for the question, Senator Kelly. 
Indeed, tribes in Arizona on a number of occasions have agreed 
to conserve water in order to help Arizona's water users absorb 
shortages both by creating system water and sometimes by 
transferring their conserved water to other users. However, 
there are some tribes, including the Colorado River Indian 
Tribes and others who are limited by restrictions of their 
water off reservation. They are not allowed to transfer that 
water off reservation. So Congress could extend the benefits of 
tribal water conservation and allow those tribes to engage in 
transfers with water users who are experiencing shortages, as 
well as transfers that could supply water for the environment. 
And as a matter of equity, ensuring that tribes are able to 
lease water off their reservations seems only fair given that 
other Colorado River water users in Arizona enjoy this right.
    Senator Kelly. And as they transfer water off of their 
tribal land and lease the water so they are compensated 
financially for this leasing, what does that compel them to do?
    Ms. Pitt. Well, they have to start, I guess, by conserving 
some water on their lands and then with that conserved 
consumptive use, they are able, if Congress could pass--could 
enable off-reservation transfers, then their conserved 
consumptive use could be transferred to other water users, but 
at present, at least for Colorado River Indian Tribes and some 
others in the state, they are not able to do that at this time, 
notwithstanding the fact that they have some of the largest 
water rights in the State of Arizona.
    Senator Kelly. So there is significant motivation, then, 
for conservation?
    Ms. Pitt. Absolutely.
    Senator Kelly. Well, thank you.
    Before we close here, I just want to take an opportunity, 
for Mr. Buschatzke and Ms. Trujillo here to talk about thinking 
ahead and thinking outside of the box. We mentioned 
desalinization earlier. I would like to hear from either of you 
what something like that would look like, maybe in the Sea of 
Cortez. How much water do you think that could possibly create? 
Just any other details you have on that, but also on any other 
large-scale possible solutions.
    I again want to reiterate, we are the most creative country 
in the world. We are really good at solving hard problems, 
especially engineering problems. I come from a background in 
engineering. I know we can solve this in Arizona and the Lower 
Basin states. You know, we have a bright future. Arizona has 
the fastest growing county in the country--Maricopa County. 
Businesses come to Arizona. They should continue to come 
because we are going to fix this issue.
    But I would like to hear from you just a little bit about 
what you think about this, and when you start to think outside 
the box, what comes to mind?
    Ms. Trujillo. I think both of us are looking forward to 
answering the question. I will kick off with a few responses. I 
think the themes from this whole hearing have involved the need 
to be innovative and flexible and that is what we are 
absolutely going to have to do in the Colorado River Basin, but 
we have also emphasized the need to be collaborative and to 
work together on these issues. I think you raised the topic of 
trying to use technology, trying to be creative, trying to have 
that underlying basis in science, and that is what we are 
committed to do at Reclamation, USGS, and the Interior 
Department. It is going to be--no doubt about it, we are going 
to be part of those conversations and look forward to trying to 
have those resources available to our communities. Our partners 
in Arizona are available and are going to be working with us 
specifically on those issues.
    Senator Kelly. Mr. Buschatzke.
    Mr. Buschatzke. Well, Senator Kelly, I guess I will focus 
on the binational desalinization in the Sea of Cortez, partly 
because I am actually co-chair for the United States 
delegation. With the appointment recently of the U.S. 
International Boundary and Water Commission Commissioner and a 
new commissioner on the Mexico side, I think we can move 
forward again on that process. In June 2020, you can see on the 
International Boundary and Water Commission website--and we can 
provide you a copy of that report--the first phase report 
looking at three opportunities in the Sea of Cortez for 
binational desalination plants. They are relatively cost-
effective, using a mechanism to transfer water or exchange 
water with Mexico and deliver that desalinized water down in 
the Yuma area.
    We have several issues to work through over the years with 
Mexico, and then if we decide collectively to move forward on 
the project, another minute to the treaty--the Mexican Water 
Treaty--needs to be negotiated. So we are probably eight to ten 
years out in the normal course of business with actually having 
a plant, but it is economically feasible that we can get the 
water to where it is needed. It can create great benefits, not 
only for Arizona, but for Nevada and California, who are 
participating, and of course, for Mexico.
    So I have great optimism that we will achieve that end over 
time. I think the commitment of the Department of the Interior 
through the Bureau of Reclamation to that process and to the 
State Department through the International Boundary and Water 
Commission is critical to success moving forward with Mexico.
    Senator Kelly. Well, thank you and I want to thank my 
colleagues today, especially my Ranking Member, Senator Hyde-
Smith, and today's witnesses for participating in today's 
hearing. Thank you very much for being here.
    Before we conclude, I want to request unanimous consent to 
add statements to the record from the Yuma County Agriculture 
Water Coalition, the Colorado River Energy Distributors 
Association, the Arizona Farm Bureau, and the Family Farm 
Alliance.
    So ordered.
    The Subcommittee has a 48-hour deadline for members to 
submit written questions to our witnesses. So you may see some 
more questions.
    The hearing record will remain open for two weeks.
    Thank you again, especially to our witnesses. The 
Subcommittee stands adjourned.
    [Whereupon, at 4:04 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]

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