Congress Passes Barrasso Bills to Address Aging Irrigation Systems and Dams for Native Communities You are here

Statement

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, praised Congress's passage of S. 612, the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WINN Act), the legislative vehicle for the Water Resources Development Act. The bill included both S.438, the Irrigation Rehabilitation and Renovation for Indian Tribal Governments and Their Economies Act (IRRIGATE Act); and S. 2717, the Dam Repairs and Improvements for Tribes Act of 2016 (DRIFT Act). Sen. Barrasso sponsored both the IRRIGATE Act and the DRIFT Act.

"For more than100 years, Washington has failed to keep its promises to tribes concerning irrigation projects," said Barrasso in reference to the IRRIGATE Act. "In Wyoming, many farmers and ranchers depend on the Bureau of Indian Affairs to deliver water to them. I introduced the IRRIGATE Act to hold Washington accountable for its commitments to finish and fix these broken water-delivery systems. This law will be a boost for several tribes' agricultural economies."

"On the Wind River Reservation, in my home state of Wyoming, and across the west, there are a number of old dams that put Native and surrounding communities at risk of dangerous floods," said Barrasso referring to the DRIFT Act. "This bill will require that the responsible federal agencies will maintain these dams and help prevent flooding. I am glad that Congress has acted and I encourage the president to sign this bill into law."
Both bills are supported by the Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone tribes of the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, as well as the National Congress of American Indians and the United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc.

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