hearing runs an hour and a half. [background noises] clicks good morning everyone

broke all this hearing of the senate budget committee to order. let me begin by expressing condolences to might distinguish ranking member for the loss of life in iowa. h no doubt described as a pop rock elliptic touchdown. and cause considerable death and destruction. today we have a different topic >> thank you for. >> yes, sir. >> we address how climate change is making drought more severe question magnifies so many of the other risks we talked about in this committee. climate change exacerbates the severity of droughts. major agricultural regions like the american west of the mediterranean precedent less precipitation in many places art whiplash bite wild swings between drought and delusion. almost everywhere is

experiencing increased heat. the most straightforward of these is increased heat. hotter weather means higher demand for water to drink, to support agriculture but even to cool power plants. without cold weather less snowfall commits an mountains ts there's less runoff into streams, rivers and watersheds during the summer months. snowpack across the american west is down almost 25% since 1955. as temperatures go up the pace of water returning to the atmosphere from soils and plants also goes up. global warming is turbocharging evaporation and transpiration. without water the agriculture industry suffers rate manufacturing slows, communities empty out in a real estate values can plummet. the cost of running out of water can be existential. since 1980, 31 droughts across the nation average of

$11.6 billion each in a physical and economic damages notably not counting loss of life and other non- monetary harms. the true cost of drought or more systemic and amplify dangers this committee is heard about. the increase of a wildfires, these fires along with climate driven flood risks are creating an insurance crisis the economists says could cause a 25 chilean dollars hit to global property values. this was cover article two issues ago and i commend it to anyone who is interested. worsening droughts threaten national security per droughts have contributed to conflict and instability in syria, guatemala, honduras and el salvador united nations 1.84 billion people worldwide nearly a quarter of humanity lived under drought conditions between 2022 and 2023. the vast majority and a low and

middle income countries. drought strippers sure world's most important waterways and food production raising prices and growth trails years of drought depleted the panama canal couldn't ship traffic in this major thoroughfare by nearly 40%. intensive ministry in drought costs global olive oil prices to rise 133% in 2023. former executive director of aggregate giant, cargo, warned as a result of climate change including amiri, u.s. production of corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton could decline by 14% by mid century. by as much as 42% by late century. our infrastructure, the foundation of our economy is also harmed. glen canyon dam's electric generating infrastructures damaged by the low water levels new expanded reservoirs channels even plants could be needed to make up water loss.

much of this infrastructure will likely be funded by the federal government. more infrastructure means higher capitol and operating cost utility companies will raise rates putting the burden ultimately on households and businesses. claimant flows downstream. as droughts worse in some places just will not have water to meet demand. hard choices likely to fall most heavily on farmers and low income households. development options will wither in places where increased list to real water scarcity. even committees that were loyal on oil and gas for tax revenues should be concerned about the risks of drought water supports fossil fuel production cools of fossil fuel power plants. water shortage can lead to stranded assets for companies at a declining tax base for communities. today will hear about the crisis of water scarcity from three different witnesses who all face the same fundamental challenge, how do we make do with less?

the hard choices and mounting costs associated with water scarcity are the result of decades of negligence on climate. we have a chance still to make a different decision and i hope we will. i recognize senator grassley. >> first of all i thank you for recognizing the tragedy that happened in greenfield, iowa. if you're watching morning television that is national you would've seen on television this very morning. so before we start, since the sun is in session and i cannot be in iowa i want to share my thoughts are with the people of iowa during these troubled times. especially those in adair county. my staff is on the ground right now i'm greenfield touring on a

measurable destruction from storms yesterday. i want to commend the first responders and emergency managers for caring and humane work. i stand ready to help as our communities recover. sadly, several fatalities have been reported so barbara and i are praying for the families who've lost loved ones and for those who have lost their homes and businesses so unexpectedly. as to the subject of today's hearing, as with the previous 17 hearings i've invited qualified scientists to provide a reason view on the very real challenges that we face as a result of changing climate. i welcome to the committee formally by scientists of the

natural center for atmospheric research. he will tell tell the international panel on climate change is uncertain as to the impact of climate change on drought. in fact the ipcc has not detected strong trends in any of the three types of drought meteorological, agricultural or hydrological. in any region of the entire world. i also look forward from iowa state department of work on compensation shows us there is no reason white farmers cannot adapt to climate change. preserve our environmental health and turn a profit at the same time. rather than speculate on climate change doomsday we iowans prefer

to confront problems head on. it's a problem we know better than most americans. i keep track of ring levels each week when i going to the grassley farm. finally mr. chairman elect to submit an article titled quote the importance of distinguished -- distinguishing climate science and climate activism" of the university of cambridge and put that in the record. >> without objection. he's worried about activists who pretend to be scientists. we should all make sure we are following sound science. he hit the nail on the head when he wrote quote activists often adopt scientific as a source of moral legitimation for their movements which can be a radical

and destructive rather than a rational and constructive." we have seen our fair share of activist testify before the budget committee on matters oh well outside of what this committee was set to do i welcome all of our witnesses today. >> thank you very much we have five witnesses today including from new mexico and california and oregon who will be introduced by their senators. welcome tonya and senator lujan you have the floor to introduce your witness. >> good morning to a ranking member thank you for holding this important hearing on the risks worsening droughts have on our economy. and on our budget today monitor the opportunity to introduce my good friend fellow new mexican. i always feel grateful when

mexicans appear before our committee sharing their expertise with our committee colleagues. to answer questions to tough questions and especially providing perspective with more extreme drought conditions do mexicans know drought like few others but we have lived in it for centuries. mastering innovative techniques to conserve precious water resources and protect diverse wetland ecosystems. water is new mexico's way of life. the foundation for the food we eat, the businesses we create, and the cultural traditions we pass on. the testimony will illustrate the challenges facing water managers in the southwest and do it with extreme drought. it is not just new mexico seamless impacts on our economy. as a child it will make clear the future of our nation's water supply could no longer be dependent on lessons from the past but states are losing the tools they have relied on for a long time to anticipate future supply and manage competing

needs. in the end it will be all water lead users, consumers, businesses, farmers and ranchers and more that will bear the brunt of these decisions in higher costs and reduce supply. mr. hill also brings this committee are decades of experience on a water litigation, professional development, support, along with tireless public service to our country. as assistant secretary to the department of interior for water in science, ms. trujillo oversaw key agencies and management development of freshwater resources but she now serves as water policy advisor for the office of new mexico governor michelle lujan grissom or uncluttered counsel be used to help new mexican secure their water future. thank you again chairman white has sent ranking member grassley for this opportunity to introduce our weight as i look forward to hearing from ms. trujillo and the rest of our witnesses for quick thank you

very much senator lujan. our next witness will be introduced by senator padilla of california pre-have the floor to make your introductions. >> think it mr. chairman it is certainly my pleasure to introduce my friend and our witness today a fellow engineer, a fellow angeleno fellow immigrant chief executive officer for the metropolitan water district of southern california. the largest wholesale drinking water supplier in the country that provides water to 26 member public agencies. which collectively serves 5%, not just at the los angeles pop not just california population but 5% of our nations population. roughly 19 people rely on the metropolitan water district.

just to put that into context for my colleagues, that is more people served by his agency alone then the entire population of every other state represented on this dais. under mr. hagekhalil leadership is entering a new era of sustainability and resiliency in the face of climate change. and other threats to southern california's water reliability ap for joining metropolitan he was executive director general manager of the city of los angeles bureau of street services where he worked to integrate climate adaptation into the largest principal street system in the nation. i first came to know adele when he was assistant general manager of the los angeles bureau of sanitation. there are a few water managers anywhere in the country, and i

would argue in the world, who have more experience with a better understanding the impact of more extreme droughts on water utilities and their budgets. and what drought impact to utilities to adapt their water supplies and infrastructure to meet our drinking water and sanitation needs. and as mr. hagekhalil and we have spent time collaborating he has been laser focus on what all of this means for household water rates. and especially for low income communities water rates. so i want to thank mr. hagekhalil for flying hear from los angeles to participate today. mr. chairman, thank you for holding this critical meeting. >> thank you very much senator. our next witness mr. kevin richardson of oregon who will be introduced by his fellow oregonian senator merkley print saturday have the floor. >> thank you, thank you very much mr. chairman i am delighted kevin richards is here accompanied by his two cents a

share on the ground experience of farming in our home state. our farmers and oregon are facing immense challenges. the west is in the midst of historic drought. demands of art water have never been higher, while water levels have never been lower. climate chaos is making our summers hotter, drier, and longer. and oregon, his temperatures have climbed the average snowpack in the cascade mountains has dropped an average of more than 20 feet over the last 90 years. that means less water for our streams, less water for our farmers, and less water for our ranchers. and the supply of snow melts runs out earlier in the spring or summer than in the past. farmers across oregon have been grappling with these challenges. one of those farmers is our kevin richards from fox hollow ranch in oregon. he's a second-generation farmer. his family specialize in growing seed crops like carrots and kentucky bluegrass it pretty also goes peppermint oil, wheat,

alfalfa, hay, before mr. richards dug into the soil of jefferson county, he fought for our farmers here in washington d.c. as director of regulatory relations for the american farm bureau federation. he has felt the effects of this prolonged drought in central oregon firsthand. last summer, he was among hundreds of farmers who received only half as much water as usual. which means of course, fewer crops and less income. to address the shortage of water, mr. richards has invested irrigation modernization programs like drip irrigation and wireless irrigation monitoring to improve the efficiency of his farms. to ensure the crops we need and more farming does not fall fallow, it's about we support a family farmers like mr. richards. it is also important irrigation districts include efficiency in their delivery of water. that is why i worked across the isle with former senator thad cochran of mississippi to revive the department of agriculture watershed and flood prevention operation program known that

cope is a pl 566. to invest in irrigation modernization projects specifically piping of irrigation districts to decrease the loss both to the ground and to evaporation. we need many more of these investments across oregon and across the west said that in the future, mr. richards can pass on his fox hollow family farm to his sons like his father pass it onto him. it's a pleasure to welcome him here today be good to have you. ways

sustainable. he teaches and writes on a diverse range of politics related to science, technology, environment, innovation and sports. he is also a nonresident senior fellow at the american enterprise institute where he focuses on science and technology policy, the politicization of science, government science advice and energy and climate. we will begin with you, you have five minutes to make your opening statement and your complete statement like those that of other witnesses will be made as a matter of record. please proceed. >> thank you, mr. chairman, for the opportunity to testify on this important subject. thank you senator luhan for the

introduction and thank you senator grassley for looking out for the iowans. my mom lives in des moines and i'm happy to say hello to her. as western water manager from state i'm keenly aware of the need to be prepared for future drought conditions. on today's drought monitor map, unfortunately new mexico takes the prize in a bad way, but many areas have seen improvement this year. two years ago, the trout monitor map painted a very different picture with well over half the nation experiencing some of the worst drought conditions in recent history and major reservoirs hit record low levels. communities impose drought restrictions on water use and emergency actions were taken within the colorado river basin and california to protect infrastructure. in new mexico over 40 miles of the rio grande went dry.

last october on a return trip to iowa city i participated in the discussion regarding the severity of the on going to the drought there in iowa. we know that drought conditions pose challenges for every sector of our economy, farmers make planting stations based on the availability of surface water and grounded water, cities and towns have a responsibility to ensure that residents have water regardless of the hydrology that we have seen and subsequent rainstorms can produce brief flows. fortunately, we are working on these issues and in many cases, we've been able to develop strategies to manage and adapt to the trout. we are also working in parallel on strategies to be able to store and capture water during

water times if those are the conditions that we see and if we have the infrastructure available to do that. in new mexico like other western states we have made water manage present programs but we know we need to do more. in january our governor michelle luhan grisham released water plan that we need to work on to enable new mexicans to respond to condition that is may be on the horizon. the 50-year water action plan is based on input received from technical experts and water users around the state and it emphasizes the need to do more in water conservation among all sectors. it also recognizes the need to protect water quality and restore important watersheds and to look to the future to develop new water supplies.

all of the efforts in the plan will require sustained levels of funding and additional investments in infrastructure. we are grateful for the recent announcements of federal funding for water projects within new mexico from the inflation reduction act and the bipartisan infrastructure law, the new federal funding will be paired with state and local appropriations and will help our communities develop more efficient water deliver systems and create backup supplies for use tugger droughts. the existing funding is a good town appointment for the additional funding that will be necessary to fully implement the required actions. having strong partnerships is a key to all of these efforts. in new mexico, we know we have to work closely with our water users to manage the limited supplies we have available. we also know we have to work we also know we have to work

closely with our sister states and continue to work with them on collaborative agreements for water sharing. we work of course very closely with the federal agencies who own and operate many of the large infrastructure projects and will be required to have as much flexibility as possible in those management decision-making processes to make sure we can get through the tough drought years that may be ahead. no doubt the available funding works best when it can be utilized in conjunction with collaborative efforts among multiple water management agencies. thank you for the opportunity to participate in this hearing and describe some of the ways new mexico and its partners are responding to droughts, strategies and action under development will ensure new mexico's communities continue to prosper even during droughts or whatever future conditions

we may see on the horizon. >> thank you very much. let me turn to you. >> thank you, appreciate the opportunity to speak before the committee and extend my condolences to the families in iowa and thank senator padilla for the introduction and partnership, uplifting communities across the country. metropolitan is the largest host of water providers in the united states. we are committed to providing safe, reliable water was no one left behind. that's a commitment we all have. everyone should have the right to water. we represent 26 member agencies including 14 cities, 12 water districts, serving water to over 19 million people, supplying water to support an economy of $1.6 trillion.

water is life, water is the economy. conflict and integrated water systems and our commitment to water usage, this combination of water efficiency and water reliability have worked together to sustain the well-being of our communities. our water use today is the same as it was 50 years ago with double the population, billions in investments in conservation. half the water we use is locally sourced. california and metropolitan had a record amount of water in storage. metropolitan alone has added 1.7 million acres of water in storage equivalent to 25 allocations. overall we have 2.4 million acres of feed in the system that is equivalent to three years for users in southern

california. in 2023 they were the lowest since 1949. the challenges we face today are enormous. water use 20-22, the driest 3 year period in california, notably this extreme drought was preceded by and followed in 2019-twenty three. in the last 5 years we have swung from record levels of water in storage to record-breaking drought conditions and back again. california has always had the most fallible year-to-year in the nation but this climate whiplash is unprecedented. we need new, adaptive, resilient water management practices and tools. this challenges our ability to reliably provide water, metropolitan gets half of its water from california, we had a state water project and the colorado river. in the last drought a lot of

deliveries were only enough for 6 areas in our region. we had to provide human health and safety needs. this low-water allocation highlighted the vulnerability in our system in delivering water. six of our 26 member agencies we serve, nearly 7 million people were severely impacted by water shortages. metropolitan agencies in partnership with our partners implemented conservation measures in past actions and partnerships. we launched an aggressive campaign promoting water saving behavior and invested $46 million in conservation and irrigation efficiency measures. we operate the distribution system utilizing as much stored water as possible with projects totaling hundreds of millions to reengineer our existing water delivery system and improve our taxability. and investments in 200 million

construction projects for groundwater storage to allow use to more water from the state water project south of the delta and north of our service area. additional projects are in the works which i want to acknowledge the partnership with the commissioner and for helping us move the needle on these investments. as california becomes more erratic, drought conditions are putting pressure on the west overall and what we are looking at. new infrastructure captures and stores water to ensure the communities we serve have reliable water including projects like pure water southern california, the largest recycled water project in the country. $150 million a day serving 3.4 million people, metropolitan master plan for water to provide roadmaps to guide us into the future. longworth house office building extremes have financial

implications, with conservation and efficiency investments with more infrastructure. metropolitan is evaluating new infrastructure projects to improve climate resiliency, including our capital investment looking at $30 billion in 2023. this is beyond the what we can ask our ratepayers but necessary to ensure they have safe and reliable drinking water for generations to come with no one left behind. sustained federal investments and assistance to lower income households essential as work to build more resilient water systems and adapt to our changing climate, requires us to partner and work together across our watershed. thank you very much. >> thank you very much. i will turn now to chairman richards. >> thank you, mister chairman, for the opportunity to share the chaff challenge farmers face as they struggle to adapt to a changing climate characterized by drought in the

western states. i pharma thousand acres with my family in central oregon, we raise livestock, hat, and grain over the farm in the region specializing in grass seed. the county where i farm produces the majority of global -- our region historically receives less than 10 inches of rain a year, after water was exhausted in the twentieth century the federal bureau of reclamation built reservoirs to capture winter snow runoff to 60,000 acres in the irrigation district where i farm. perennial drought has reduced -- reduced it to 20% of normal in recent years and it would require multiple wet years to restore the water supply level to their historic averages. house drought impacting our farms and communities, frankly, some farm so we cannot adapt

fast enough, this spring there have been three auctions in our small community to liquidate farm equipment, multigenerational family farmers made the difficult decision to quit. less water means fewer crops in fewer jobs for farmworkers and are a culture businesses. that's taking a toll on our local economy and employment. our town has three major equipment supply dealers, one of those businesses decided to close their doors and relocate this winter. our local school district is one of the most diverse in the nation with one third of our students native american, from the confederated tribes of warm springs and one third of our students of hispanic american families who immigrated as farmworkers. irrigated agriculture is the economic engine that creates jobs and prosperity for these families, and everyone suffers when it starts to run out of fuel.

less obvious is the impact on the local environment. when irrigated farmland is dried-up it creates micro ecological disasters in the form of erosion, proliferation of noxious and invasive weeds and soil degradation. sustaining soil health helps maintain the beauty of our landscape and farm productivity but it's impossible without adequate irrigation water or sufficient farm revenue to justify constant input. how are farms adapting to drought and water scarcity? all farmers are desperately searching for ways to tighten their belt and find efficiencies. unfortunately short-term solutions often come with negative consequences. it's painful telling your loyal employees they no longer have a job and sometimes this leads to cutting corners and neglecting investments to maintain soil health or deferring investments. nevertheless farmers like me who want to see american agriculture in role communities drive are finding ways to

invest. we are just in crop rotation and looking for opportunities to buy new crops that allow greater flexibility in water use. we are cloying our resources into conservation by monitoring soil moisture, upgrading sprinklers to the latest technology and converting to irrigation. what collective solutions are available to enhance that resiliency? a robust farm safety net and risk management tools like those authorized in the farm bill, with volatility in modern agriculture. please support those programs as well as ways to adapt those programs to the specialty crops in western states. however the greatest opportunities to save water are not on the farm but within our irrigation infrastructure.

i urge your support for programs and funding to monetize agriculture in the west. the watershed and flood prevention operations program known as pl 566 is beneficial using novel ways to fund and make sure water diverted from rivers goes to farmers fields. senator merkley has been a champion of this and grateful he is leading a bipartisan effort to enhance the funding for pl 566, targeting not just water saving but ecosystem improvements and cultural priorities. project funded through pl 566 and other investments in modernizing infrastructure have a tremendous return on investment and deserve support. finally, we are in search of more permanent solutions while preserving irrigated enforcement and communities that depend on farming in central oregon. i concluded in my written testimony more specific

projects that we are pursuing that will help our irrigation district continue to thrive in the 21st century. thank you. >> thank you. now we turn to doctor casiano. >> committee members, thank you for the opportunity to speak here today. as alumnus of the university of rhode island and professor of iowa state university i feel comfortable before this committee. i've worked with the best fishermen and farmers in the world. ecosystem science with particular expertise in the management of carbon, nitrogen and water dynamics around the system, i work with a range of scientists, engineers, and farmers to understand, design, and implement systems that minimize trade-offs between productivity and environmental performance. i am the us representative to the united nations intergovernmental panel on soils where i'm the lead author on the north american assessment of the forthcoming

25 status to the world soils report. climate change is a serious risk. longworth house office building variability precipitously precipitation extremes have significant challenges for farmers. we should take steps to adapt to climate change, when and where it makes sense, without slowing the progress we've made towards improving the human condition much of which is attribute of will to agriculture. in the last 50 years alone, we've doubled production per acre, the annual rate of yield gain shows no signs of declining and the increase in production is a company by reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. emissions from crop production were significant and the most difficult to abate because unlike other sectors they are not from fossil fuel combustion. they are from nitrous oxide, byproduct of processes critical for plant growth. improved management of nitrogen and water are required to minimize agricultural emissions. although agricultural emissions are hard to abate, there are strategies that increase yield while reducing emissions.

agronomic practices aimed to increase the amount and resilience of crop yield in an environmentally response all manner are often overlooked by conservation programs. if they can be effective in adapting to climate change and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. i would like to highlight two of these practices, subsurface drainage, 50 million acres of cropland across all 50 states benefit from subsurface drainage. this infrastructure includes connected networks of private and community owned drainage pipes that can be valued at $50 billion. subsurface drainage includes plant and soil health and lets farmers make timely field operations that enable successful execution of additional conservation practices like precision fertilizer management. these factors reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing yield while reducing nitrogen fertilizer needs and nitrous

oxide emissions. drains promote nutrient runoff and enable treatment opportunities like wetlands which are among the most effective nutrient loss reduction practices that diversify the landscape. unfortunately much of our drainage infrastructure was installed more than 100 years ago and is deteriorating. in addition the past few are not sufficient owning part to an increase in heavy participation in central and eastern us. the increase in heavy precipitation reinforces another growing opportunity, the need for crop residue management. i mentioned earlier corn yield and yield many other crops is increasing every year, great testament to farmer innovation and the success of us investments in research. as yields increase, so do crop residues, the portions of the crop that are not typically harvested. it is increasing by about a hundred pounds per acre every year. in the 1970s and 80s crop

residue retention was required to reduce erosion and build soil organic matter but the increase in residue production now create significant challenges for farmers. it keeps the soil cold and wet soiling the growth of subsequent crops and challenging the implementation of conservation practices like cover crops. the usda agricultural research service and land-grant universities have demonstrated partial residue harvest in corn systems increase yield, reduce nitrogen fertilizer needs and reduce nitrous oxide emissions without risking loss of soil health. hence partial property to harvest and make significant reduction in the intensity scores of us agriculture. moreover the harvested residue can be transformed into renewable fuels that make significant contributions towards the carbon eyes and other hard to abate sectors of the economy. medical munication about the environmental benefits of drainage and crop residue management would ensure farmers understand and act on them, education, technical

assistance, incentive programs that accelerate the implementation and maximize the benefits of updating our drainage infrastructure and harvesting crop residues for decarbonization of agriculture and other sectors. it is clear that opportunities to reduce agricultural emissions can also contribute to productivity of cropping systems, ending carbonization of agriculture and other sectors. going forward we cannot and need not sacrifice productivity to climate change mitigation. thanks for your time. >> thank you. our final witness. >> chairman whitehouse, senator grassley, thank you for the opportunity to testify. for 30 years along with many colleagues i have studied extremely 6 and climate and associated impacts. our work is cited in the most recent assessment of the incremental -- ipcc. the ipcc is comprised of hard-working intelligent people who are in the spirit of public service. they are also humans in the ipcc is fallible. the conclusions of the reports

are snapshots in time reflecting the evolution of scientific understanding. individual experts may have legitimate views at odds with the ipcc and that is expected in a diverse scientific landscape. i'm happy to report the ipcc working group one assessment on the literature of extreme events in my areas of expertise have with few exceptions been an overall excellent job accurately reflecting the scientific literature. i summarize the most recent ipcc report concluded about the detection and attribution of drought at the global scale in the united states. i start with some key terminology, first detection, quote, the process of demonstrating climate or a system or system affected by climate has changed in some statistical sense. without providing a reason for that change. identified change detected in observations, likelihood of occurrence by chance due to internal variability is determined to be small. attribution.

the process of evaluating the relative contributions of multiple causal factors to a change or event with an assessment of confidence. third. drought. periods of time with below average moisture conditions usually covering large areas during which limitations in water availability resulting negative impacts for various components of natural systems and economic sectors. it's more challenging to achieve this than hurricanes or tornadoes because drought is measured in different ways in the context of significant natural climate variability. detecting trends in drought impacts is more challenging. it's easy to evaluate these trends that are the result of internal variability rather than an indication of a changing climate. they are confused and so too is

climate variability with climate change. the ipcc finds with confidence and 8 in 10 chance that human caused climate change influences the hydrological cycle and drought. my written testimony makes four points summarizing ipcc funding. number one, the ipcc focuses on three types of drought, hydrological and what it calls agricultural or ecological drought. at the global scale the ipcc has not detected trends in any types of drought for any region with high confidence, 8 in 10 chance. for the united states which is summarized in my written testimony the ipcc has low confidence, a 2 in 10 chance of attributed trends for all regions with the exception of western north america where it has medium confidence with the trends in agricultural and ecological drought.

looking forward to 2100 which is summarized in this figure and my written testimony, at the global scale the ipcc does not expect a signal trends and drought will emerge in any region with high confidence. the united states the ipcc has low confidence that a signal of trends in drought will emerge from the background of natural variability in all three types of drought or all regions except western and central north america for agricultural and ecological drought and hydrological drought in western north america. both of those are medium confidence. so i know it's a lot of words but written testimony include several tables and figures from the ipcc report that concisely summarize these findings and associated confidence levels. this is an image that comes from chapter 11 of the ipcc,

the last pages of the report. i encourage you to take a close look at it. it - in plain english the ipcc concludes the changes to the climate system resulting from human activity, notably emission of carbon dioxide from burning of fossil fuels changes the hydrological cycle and thus affect drought. at the same time the ipcc does not have high confidence research has detected the signal of a change in past drought at this scale are the united states orders the ipcc expect with high confidence such a signal to emerged on internal variability even under the most extreme scenario to 2100. such uncertainties can inform both mitigation and adaptation policies. my final point, to be absolutely clear, i emphasize unequivocally, human caused climate change poses significant risk to society and the environment and various policy responses in the form of mitigation and adaptation i assist terry and make good sense. thank you and i welcome your questions.

>> thank you very much. hearing you, mr. richards, reminds me a lot of conversations i have with our fishermen in rhode island. i remember going out on a trawler one day, to see things firsthand, and spend some time with the fishing captain who operated the trawler. and he turned to me and he said what you've got to understand is this is not my grandfather's ocean. sounds to me like this is not your grandfather's land in oregon either. >> i think that is right. as farmers, we do relate to fishermen and consider

ourselves stewards of the resources but one of those resources we are stewards of is not just the water and the soil and the wildlife but also the cultural heritage, the foundation of american agriculture and resource industries and fisheries and we are working hard not just to save water and preserve the agriculture industry but also to preserve the heritage of american farming. >> we hear very regularly from senator merkley about forster's, farmers and fishermen of oregon. miss trujillo, you mentioned the 50 year water action plan. could you give us a little description of that plan at its foundation in science. >> it is a report the governor

asked us to work on to demonstrate the situation in new mexico and the challenges we may see if we see a continued drive future. what we used to inform the plan was a variety of information that came in from technical experts including report from 2022 that analyze the impacts of climate change on our water resources was developed from a panel of primarily new mexico scientists and researchers who had worked in the area for many decades and looked at a variety of situations from soil moisture impacts to groundwater recharge impacts, surface water implications trying to predict what we might see in the future. and there is uncertainty and we don't know exactly what the

future conditions are going to be, but if we see a drier future and a prediction we may see up to 25% less water coming into the system we have to develop actions to respond to that and so that is what this plan does. we have actions for water conservation in particular that will help us meet that supply and demand equation. thank you. >> thank you. you mentioned business models for water utilities are having to change in the face of climate change. can you describe how that impacting the utility that you run as you look forward? >> the previous way of charging for water was consumption of water use and most, what's -- the more water you use, the

more you pay but what we are seeing now is incentivizing people to use less water and investing a lot of money whether it is through changing the landscape or conservation or how you do that, that is why our water use in 50%, for us to continue investing in this water resiliency is to build more storage, more conveyance to capture water when we have it and in dry conditions not rely on water we don't have and to do that we have to find new ways to charge for water without having to rely on less amount of water, our business model has to change. we need to find ways to generate revenue that's not based on the volumetric use of water, has to be affixed rate building on the overall base,

sharing, and cost and ensuring affordability for our community. we need to find ways that work for people for conservation. address -- i appreciate senator padilla's leadership on the low income assistance program but what we need to do is how we can raise the money locally. we appreciate the federal government's funding but most of the money is going to come from local investments and local rates. how can we do it in a way that does not force us to force people to use more water, we are changing it now and last month the board of electors improved in increase in property tax to capture what we call the resiliency investments to help us invest across the board in projects that can move us forward and reduce our dependence on the sale of water because that's the new model we have to do and we are working through it and we look forward to developing new business models in the region but also

takes partnerships and i appreciate the partnership with our partners. arizona and nevada are partners with metropolitan in california in the largest water project because if we invest together, we are helping each other to reduce our dependence on imported water so expanding that and working together across the watershed and the southwest and california is going to help all of us continue to move forward and be resilient. >> thank you, my time is up. senator grassley. >> how can farmers in iowa improve their soil quality and limit emissions without demanding further input from the federal government? >> thank you for the question but i think the way farmers go forward and limit their emissions and adapt to mitigate

climate change, improve soil without further dependence on the federal government is taking systems approach to cover things like crops. when i say a systems approach these practices commissar conservation practices which are named in 40 be can't be prescribed indiscriminately because they just don't work everywhere, it is as simple as that and science shows on average, they may even reduce crop yields but what they are placed and targeted and proper systems they can be very effective and do many great things for the environment, subsurface drainage and crop residue management are two practices that help put that systems approach forward to allow other practices to go into the system better. that's where i see this going. >> are you more concerned with longworth house office building variability or drought in iowa, how can islands do best to

prepare so that there is more rainfall absorbent as opposed to runoff? >> thanks again for the question. as we heard, the clear challenge is variability in precipitation, not just based on the science but what we hear from the farmers as well. there's big precipitation events as we saw yesterday in iowa that are major concern how we heard in the testimony today about the ongoing drought in iowa punctuated in may of this year which through yesterday is the second greatest precipitation may on record. farmers are doing things too i want to add to adapt to droughts, they did achieve very high yields in three of the four years during a sustained drought we had in iowa completing a record yield and

one of those four years saw very low yield due to extreme precipitation event that you remember very well, senator. >> doctor, given your scientific expertise, i would like to give you an opportunity to address any factually inaccurate science-based statements that were made today and i have a follow-up. >> thanks. we are in a period where there's a lot of what i would call anecdotal attribution, something happens somewhere in the world, tragic event in the skies over southeast asia, turbulence even, the news was covered that this was caused by climate change, the quick attribution of everything that happens to climate change plans our understandings, these are very complex phenomena and processes. three things and reading my

colleagues testimony that are fascinating and tell a much more important part of the study. one is that the southern california water district uses half the water used to. that is an credible story of human ingenuity and innovation. the others most of the world's seeds come from the high desert which is another incredible testament. the third thing i learned is crop product of the despite the variability and change in climate over the past generations since my grandparents were young people's continue to increase and is expected to continue to increase. >> also i would like to have you as my final question, to ask you why you have argued that, rather than just one political party are distancing themselves from the views of the international panel on climate change. >> i will give you an anecdote. i was first invited to testify before the senate 22 years ago,

environment public works. i was invited by senate democrats and what they said to me was would you come before the senate and summarize what the third assessment report of the ipcc said, so i did that and last week i was invited by senate republicans to come with the exact same request. my explanation of this is at some point climate activists decided to make extreme longworth house office building events the face of climate change and in doing so went well beyond what the science can support, so the ipcc is no longer particularly useful making those arguments. it pours some cold water on the anecdotal attribution claims. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you again for being here to share new mexico's

perspective with the committee, the drought we are experiencing now is different, it's longer, it's hotter, it is less predictable. look at the rio grande river which is not getting the attention it deserves especially with our brothers and sisters including in new mexico who depend on the colorado. the legislation this congress passed, it also included the rio grande river, that is my way of getting the bureau reclamation's attention. for generations new mexicans in the rio grande have worked in rhythm, snowpack melting in the spring would help in tough dry periods. that is allow the rio grande to sustain the region providing a constant pulse of water that supports over 6 million people in agriculture and manufacturing industries, that is all changed with increasing temperatures, snowpack is melting earlier and faster forcing communities to use groundwater and deplete

aquifers at critical levels. to protect water resources for generations to come how does new mexico plan to deal with rising temperatures, stronger drought and less predictable precipitation? >> thank you for your work on behalf of new mexico. we are always thinking about how to deal with the next drought situation and the ability to manage in a complex system of diverse water supplies and groundwater supplies that are interconnected. that ability for us to manage is what we need to get us through the dry years. we are going to be investing as i said earlier in the actions in the governor's 50 or water action plan meaning we have to do more conservation and municipalities, in our cultural communities and on a systemwide basis so we are also going to

have to look for new water supplies in the future if we continue to see the dry years on the horizon and overarching everything we have to make sure the water quality is protected so all those actions are on our mind every day as we are working to make sure we have water for our communities. >> appreciate that. long-term drought is fueling more intense, frequent and unpredictable wildfires, for many years after the fire is extinguished, during recent extreme drought conditions, small burns multiply the cost of damages in the process, that was the case in 2022 when the forest service lost control of prescribed burn the grew into the largest fire in new mexico's history. among the impact, billions of dollars of financial damages, hundreds of homes lost, the fire left behind burn scars, and the watershed, 17,000 people in and around las vegas,

when munson struck, the runoff flushed sediment and other wild fire debris to the city's reservoirs, the runoff was too contaminated for the only water treatment plants, with no backup groundwater, did not take long before supplies plummeted. how did the water crisis get so dire so fast in las vegas, new mexico? >> i was born in las vegas, my family's rangeland is in the burn area and i appreciate your support and help and that of all of our delegation in providing resources and assistance to our community. the city of las vegas, similar to many other western cities or rural cities throughout the country where they are reliant on a single supply of water and in this circumstance that supply of water is fed by the watershed in the burn area, their system was not able to

handle the runoff and the debris coming through that area. the resources we've been able to assist them with include trying to develop cooperative agreements, to improve the infrastructure to make sure they can provide water to their citizens and it is something many communities around the country should be thinking about if they are in similar circumstances to las vegas so thank you again for your support. >> i have several other questions i will submit to the record as well, thank you again for this important hearing. >> very well, thank you very much. senator van holland. >> thank you, mister chairman, good to be with you and my colleague from new mexico. i know a lot of you represent western parts of the country but as you know, drought and water scarcity issues are not limited to the west.

in my state of maryland, climate change is causing more intense summer drought and saltwater intrusion which contributes to a growing water scarcity problem in our state and what you are seeing is a lot of communities are responding to truro to true right to remain more resilient, the city of westminster initiated a project called pure water westminster to study the safety and effectiveness of advanced treatment of reclaimed water or indirect potable reuse, to augment surface water storage and in maryland they are extorting the feasibility of large-scale groundwater replenishment against groundwater depletion. these are recycling projects that have secondary benefit so we prevent that from running into chesapeake bay and it means the bay doesn't face the stress so we are looking at

more innovative recycling project in maryland as in other parts of the country. i worked hard with my colleagues to secure the inclusion of the alternative water source grant pilot program as part of the infrastructure bill. it is authorized but we've not yet funded it. so adel hagekhalil, could you talk about the importance of these water recycling programs and how they are becoming more important because of the impact of climate change? >> thank you for the question. our success as a nation has to be through collaboration across the entire nation. it is important as water agencies and utilities working under associations to exchange experience and what we need to do because we can't reinvent the wheel. going to the university of

colorado boulder to talk about the future and how we do it but as governor newsom developed his water supply action plan, 10% of the water supply in california is going to disappear and what we need to do is manage risks because water is essential to our business as an economy and what we need is to develop a risk-based approach that we can't put all our eggs in one basket, we need to diversify our portfolio, the one water approach. as you look at fuel water in your community we are looking at fuel water in southern california. we need to diversify the water supply and find other sources of water that can argument, looking at these water projects in southern california, 150 million gallons a day, it's going to take water, take the water that was going to be wasted, recycling and putting it in the ground and we can put it upstream to treatment plants

so during drought conditions we are not fighting over that water but actually putting water away. that can provide us the supply we need not only for southern california but the entire state and the entire collaborative watershed. by working together in partnership and investing in funding from the infrastructure bill we have received we need to diversify so this is critical, capturing what water and floating it is critical. infrastructure to move water around and how we store water weather is underground or aboveground. these have to come together, what i call it, a holistic one water approach we are doing. recycling with the technology we have a safe, doable, and reliable source of water that when we have dry conditions we can use the water to continue the economy and the thriving of communities across the board. >> i appreciate that. thank you.

many people when they think of farming also think of the midwest. we have a very vibrant farming community in the state of maryland, saltwater intrusion is reducing the use of groundwater for farmers who often lack a backup water supply they can turn to. we know that this will get worse as it continues the impact of climate change. one of the programs our farmers are using to remain resilient in their operations is the natural resource conservation service to help farmers and dad. mister richards, i wanted your thoughts on the importance of that as one of the tools to address these water issues. >> absolutely, thank you for the question. the programs that are

accessible for farmers, tremendously helpful, incentivizing cover croping and water and soil conservation efforts on farms which were highlighted another testimony today. they are useful and beneficial. one challenge is they are not always available on an emergency basis when drought is threatening soil health and micro-ecological disasters on neglected farmland so i believe there's an opportunity to enhance some of those programs that can potentially make them available on a more emergency basis and co. county piloted program in 20222 cost share, incentivize cover cropping and wheat management on ground that was dried up due to drought to help avert some of the environmental disasters that were at risk so we are

exploring ways to access grant funding get to build that program and make it more robust on a continuous basis. >> things are mentioning that, i look forward to working with my colleagues as part of the farm bill reauthorization to see if we can fine-tune those programs to address these issues, thank you. >> i' m told we have two senators on the way here although one of the things clear in the senate is you can never believe senators about where they are relative to where they are supposed to be. there is a legendary story in the cloakroom calling ted kennedy saying we need you on this vote, are you on your way, yes, he said. i'm at the airport. leaving out that he was at the boston airport. i will take just a moment to ask you to elaborate on your

statement, the potential to sustainably harvest crop residue is growing every year representing a new source of feed, fiber, and fuel that can help to decolonize other sectors of the economy. would you elaborate on that sentence? look at that. >> can i still elaborate? >> you may elaborate. as i mentioned crop residue, production of them is growing every year as we increase yields for corn, it's a hundred pounds per acre per year. that is a significant amount of residue. those residues can be harvested and turned into biofuel, renewable natural gas, ethanol, that would be more the grain. in our area in central iowa we have one plant, for example that is transforming the crop residue into renewable natural

gas, putting it directly over the pipeline. not only, the big point, not only is that good but removing part of the residue also reduces greenhouse gas emissions directly from the fuel to the atmosphere, one of the hardest to abate sources of emissions in our economy written large so there are multiple benefits for the farmer and other industries. >> i will turn now to senator romney because i recognize him when the question finished. senator marshall will be finished and then senator padilla should return. >> thank you. as you know, my state is one of those that has been experiencing a great deal of drought, i'm from the state of utah, estimates are this is the longest period of drought in the last hundreds of years going back to 1500, and last couple of winters we've had some relief, has been 115%.

and over a longer time. the legislature has changed water rights legislation. put in place a trust fund to buy water rights simile to localities like south jordan using water in ways that are novel and creative. i thought as a non-climate scientist, with all the warming there would be more rain and it would get wetter. we keep hearing about more storms, more violent storms so wouldn't there be more water? maybe there's more water in some places like iowa or nebraska or other places but in the american west, the intermountain west we are seeing a lot less water. the question is how is and can

agriculture adapt to that kind of change? are you seeing it in other parts of the country? what can agriculture do in a setting that it will get wetter and wetter and wetter or drier and drier and drier, how do you accommodate that disparity? >> thank you for the question. the history of american agriculture is one of doing more with less. we are very good at adapting and finding ways to be more productive and efficient with the resources we have and you are exactly right, it's not just scarcity, its variability and unpredictability of water shortages. the question i have, hand farmers, family farmers, who are family businesses, can we adapt fast enough, can we change our business model, change our crop rotation,

adjust how we are stewarding the soil and preparing it for the variability of the future, can we do that fast enough? as your colleague asked, are there programs within rcs that can enhance and incentivize the adaptation? on the ground ultimately we need investment in infrastructure not just to save water but to manage it more collaboratively. my colleagues also mentioned it. in central oregon, we are finding ways for irrigation districts and other water users who normally would operate in isolation to work together and manage things more collaboratively, invest in major projects that transform the way we are using water. >> in iowa, what you are experiencing in terms of

climate and to what degree are farmers and ranchers able to adjust? >> thanks for the question. like yesterday, precipitation extremes is the biggest challenge for us, variability from drought to precipitation access as well. we have drainage infrastructure in our state like every state in the united states does. we are using that drainage infrastructure to drain water recycling we heard about earlier, we take the water that comes off the drains not only does that reduce nutrient loss downstream which is occurring for the gulf of mexico, it motivates that. it can be fed back on the system of crop productivity later in the year. >> this is an important topic, happy to learn about and ask questions and learn from members of the panel. the committee that would be

focused on this, i hope we end and budget can deal with $1.5 trillion deficit finding solutions to that. if we don't deal with that we won't have resources to deal with emerging crises as a result of climate change and economic destruction of various kinds. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you for accepting my invitation and discussing prospects for reforms and healthcare to reduce those expenditures. thank you for joining me during office hours. >> some of my questions may be redundant. we are running to other committee hearings this well. mister richards, i am 1/5 generation farm kid. i don't remember a time there wasn't someplace in kansas that

was suffering from drought. my grandparents would say the same thing, lived through the dirty 30s, you would agree with me that farmers and ranchers were the original conservation. given the tools and flexibility, they are going to do what's right for the land and grow the most, we see great strides in precision agriculture. i assume you used these conservation programs, how would you describe the flexibility rules and regulations, any concerns going forward. >> thank you for the question. there is always opportunities, i resemble your remarks in the sense that we are optimistic and always facing adversity and seeking ways to get better. the programs that exist are

tremendously helpful through fsa, safety net that exists, they cater more towards commodity crops for specialty crops. to navigate for those of us in the western states that grow smaller specialty crops. those programs are very helpful in incentivizing conservation efforts. often we work well on the short-term emergency basis. and designed to incentivize paradigm shifts for farmers but often with drought we need to adapt right away. >> again, many of these practices that are now being forced upon us are things we've

been doing for decades. 1990 one, i remember doing no till farming on our farm. covered crops is something new. certain places in kansas where that doesn't work. in the western third of the state there's not enough moisture. wherever we can we do no till farming for a lot of reasons, economical and conservation and here's my concern about sustainable aviation fuel that they are requiring all these climate practices be done like you can pick and choose but no way to do cover crops in the western half of the state. do you have any concern that we will be losing the opportunity is hereby adapting these particular is? >> i share your concern. it's a significant concern when

we prescribe conservation practices without considering the system in which they are being placed. the anecdote on kansas, i will provide one on iowa. no tillage doesn't work in north-central iowa because it's too cold, too wet. we need to think about the full system, erosion is not a problem, we think of other ways to warm up and dry out the soil and get the crop planted. as we move towards rulemaking, and field scale analysis and accounting conservation practices how they are effective, that's where we need to go. >> i'm just as concerned about that, the eco-program or whatever program it is, we will lose farmers and ranchers because they can't do all those things. they would do them all, and let

me do no till farming, you have to kill the weeds in that type of thing. a lot of frustrations with the epa being over prescriptive. >> in iowa, we have seen increases in places where it doesn't work because of lack of herbicide availability. >> too simple again, coming up, the farm bills being overly prescriptive, thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you. a few places where the

challenges of climate change, extreme longworth house office building and fluctuations in precipitation i felt more acutely than in california. corresponding water scarcity insecurity has created challenging circumstances. at times some inflicts -- conflict for water users in california. you see it from the river basin on the oregon border all the way to the colorado river and other places in between. that's why they have fought relentlessly to be sure the inflation reduction act included funding to reach areas experiencing not just drought but severe drought. .. drought. to drive collaborative solutions for water conflicts. just yesterday, i participate in a sermon at the department of interior with some of our agricultural water users in the san joaquin valley ira dollars

to sell the trickiest water in the san joaquin valley. you have work with interior to leverage ira investments to to help alleviate colorado river water conflicts with creative solutions. can you speak how important it is for congress to continue providing this type of funding? >> sure. i want to thank you for your leadership, and to me yesterdays signing ceremony is an exampleto of the collaboration, and also just metropolitan signed a a partnership with the farms and central valley and san joaquin valley to talk about how we can address a shift groundwater basins and how we can store water when we had it in the central valley to help the farmers hope us and be able to leverage. that's greatbl collaboration adaptation to the changes we are saying. but on the front of the colorado river is our farmers as you herd

of the leading the way in cultivation but they can't do it alone and they need to help financially to help. we're working with farmers and palo verde irrigation district or imperial valley tournament. we are able to invest huge amountug of money in on farm conservation. one of the things they've done is actually work withth the farmers to do what we called seasonal farming. andal that means that if during the wintertime where the commodities and the vegetables are growing is really valuable across the nation, they can farm but during the summer with is a huge competition for whatever their farming, we can keep the land idle and say that water and put it away. but we need to support them financially. what we've done is through this ira is help them right now in getting funding to conserve more water so we can put back in lake mead and not on serve california that serve the entire southwest,

and help us come together here we are doing the same thing in the broader irrigation district and by joomla! whereby doing the seasonal farming, the farmers are taking some of money that is being paid to them to line canals can be more efficient and implement on farm conservation and working with theor tribes. we are also partnering with the colorado river indian tribes. we met with them last week to find new ways of farming. but i think to me the money that we have from the ira is helping bridge the gap. when you go to communities that are farmers, , behind every farm there is community and people that suffer. so metropolitan invest a lot of money also in committee benefits and try to find ways to uplift people and your funding from the ira has been a huge help. that's great, to make sure i have additional question for relative to resource. we've been working together on

multi-alternative use of foul bloodlines as well. it's not just money for severe drought that of what i like today that investment and water infrastructure as a whole has declined about 77% since its peak in the 1970s. congress has begun to rectify this by making transformational investments in water infrastructure through the bipartisan infrastructure law. we know that the funding through that measure is just a down payment. it's not an end-all be-all. we continue to fund water infrastructure to help water systems become more resilient to climate change.e. follow-up question. how can congress best help water systems containing two drought proof of their infrastructure? >> reqs i mean come to me the affordably questionn is huge and appreciate the bill introduced 3830, s. res. generally as you said the federal help is down

payment. most of the rates will be raised locally but the biggest issue we have is these communities are suffering, that are working two jobs, whether at san fernando or compton, a region. we need to find ways to help tthem so when we invest in resilience, we talk about $39 investment we need to make, ho can we do it without causing hardship on the communities that are underserved or disadvantaged, and getting thess low-income assistance program is going to help us increase the rates we need to do without causing hardship on the communities that we serve sparklight you mentioned low income. chairman whitehouse spoke to the need for a low income water assistance program earlier as well because you know who is hardest hit when it comes to these increase costs. the last question in closing is, can you speak for a moment about the value or need to not just fund, make infrastructure investments but for the federal government to be partners in funding ongoing maintenance and

operations? >> yeah. it's critical. that's part of the ira funding. one of it is how we can reduce our dependence on imported water. i'll give two examples. a number of communities in southern california are on groundwater wells. a numberr of them are struggling with ensuring they maintain the water quality thatua we need in these wells, whether it's b because of pfas or some contamination. we have an interest in making sure those communities stay on groundwater because if they get off groundwater and thehe systes fail,he they will have to go to import water which is a huge rat shock. so using the funding, and we asked the bureau of reclamation help us find some of these can produce an san fernando compton, in fullerton and santa anna in a region to make sure they stay in groundwater and protect them from the contamination and provide our communities safe water. so if we can continue those investments we not only provide resiliency and response to the drought but also ensure when doing the right thing for our

future and given safe water for i canun reduce. >> one final thing, colleagues, for the committee tomi considers pretty simple example of leaky pipes, right? and it drought stricken western united states, the last thing we can afford is to lose a significant amount of water supply due to leaky pipes, which is simply a result of old infrastructure and deferred maintenance.nd so if are going to make these investment to upgrade, to modernize our infrastructure, let let's to make the same mistake again can. the bettermo we maintain, the ls likely were going to be in the situation in the near future of losing a precious resource to something as simple as leaky pipes. with that, thank you, mr. chair. >> excellent words to end on. what you think the witnesses for appearing before the committee today. their full written statements are a part of the record. processing to does, questions for the record are due by 12 noon tomorrow with signed hardcopy to look to the

committee click in turks and 624. emailed copies are also fine. we asked the witnesses if you receive questions for thene records respond timely cost the civic and within seven days of receipt. with no further business before the committee, i again think the witnesses, and the hearing is adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> today on c-span the house is back at 10 a.m. eastern to take up legislation to block an individual who is not a u.s. citizen voting in elections in the district of columbia. members will work on legislation prohibiting the federal reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency or using similar digital assets to implement federal monetary policy. on c-span2 the senate returns at 10 a.m. to consider the nomination for undersecretary of the air force and vote on whether to begin initial debate on