Directing Committees to Review Regulations from Federal Agencies

Floor Speech

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Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Thank you, Mr. Markey.

Mr. Speaker, I'm listening to the debate, and I can relate to a lot of what is being said.

I am going to speak to the issue of water and the role it plays in our local economies. We've been working steadfastly with my colleagues on the other side, although sometimes I don't think they buy into some of the issues that we're trying to push forward, the water recycling, water conservation, water efficiencies that create, not paper water, that is paper on ledgers, but real water that create jobs because of what it does in the local communities.

When we refer to the ESA, I sat through many a hearing with Mr. Pombo on the Endangered Species Act and I can tell you that protecting domestic species is one of the ideals that we have in this great country of ours. Species. Fish. Species. Man. When is our turn? That's one of the things that we look towards to protect the American public, the ability for us to ensure that whatever is delivered to them, whether it is food, transportation, water, anything, that it is going to be safe not only for people but for other species.

The Bureau of Reclamation's WaterSMART grants and title XVI projects, which is water recycling, are locally initiated and fully supported and are an important part of our water supply solution. These projects create in our areas and have in the past many jobs which allow communities to sustain their economic growth while producing potable water, or water for agriculture, through real efficiencies, conservation and water recycling.

The Bureau of Reclamation created 62,000 jobs and supported through funding in 2009 through all their programming, including title XVI, and it has already awarded over $93.2 million in Federal funding for 235 WaterSMART grant projects in 16 western States from 2004 to 2010. These projects will conserve approximately 705,000 acre-feet of water per year when fully constructed at an approximate cost of $132 per acre-foot. Currently it runs anywhere from $300 to $1,500 in Arizona in some areas. Title XVI projects have produced an estimated 260,000 acre-feet of real, pure water in 2010.

Please, ladies and gentlemen, speak to your local water agencies; ask how critical projects in your communities, their funding, create jobs, local jobs, and create water so badly needed especially during times of drought, and Mother Nature does have drought cycles upon us in the United States. Real water and jobs are created through conservation, not by talk or conversation about regulation. We must support projects to conserve water, to conserve our communities and thereby create jobs.

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