orting providers, giving you a front>> water policy experts from western states joint science and environmental professors from iowa state university and the university of colorado bou to testify on climate change and how certain regions of the country are affected by wascarcity. the senate budget committee hearing runs an hour and a half.

>> good morning everyone. clicks good hearing of the senate budget committee to order. let me begin by expressing condolences to might distinguish for the loss of life in iowa. h no doubt described as a pop rock elliptic touchdown and cause considerable death anddestruction. today we have a different topic >> thank you for. >> yes, sir. >> we address how climate change is question magnifies so many of the other risks we t in this committee. climate change exa 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 increased heat. hot or whetherhotter 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 the mountai watersheds during the summer months. 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 agriculture industry suffers rate manufacturing slowspty out in a real estate values can plummet. the cost of running out of water can be existtial. since 1980, 31 droughts across the nation average of $11.6 billion each in a and economic damages notably not counting loss of life and other

non- monetary harms. the true cost of amplify dangers this committee is heard about. of a wildfires these fires along with climate driven flood risks are creating an insurance crisis the economists says could cause a 25 chilean dollar h dollars hit to global property values. this was cover article two ago and i commend it to anyone who is 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. low and middle income countries. drought sure world's most important waterways and 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 warned as a result of climate change and quotingincluding amiri u.s. production of corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton could decline mid century. by as much as 42% by late century. our infrastructure, the foundation of our economy is also harmed. glen canyon dam'sc generating infrastructures damaged by the low water levels new expanded reservoirs channels even plants could be nd 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 f downstream. as droughts worse in some places just will not have water to meet

demand. hard choices likely to fall mos farmers and low income households. de inandin places where increased list to real water even committees that were loyal on oil and gas 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 communities. today will hear about the crisis of water scarcity different witnesses who all face the same fundamental challen 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 >> 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 sessionnot be in iowa i want to share thoughts are with the people of iowa during these troubled times. 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 humanerk. i stand ready to help as our communities. 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 thettee 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 changhe ipcc detected strong trends in any of the three types of drought meteorological agricultural orogical. in any region of the entire world. a forward from iowa state department of work on

co 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. 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 distinguished -- distinguishing climate science and climate of the university of cambridge and put thatn 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 movements which can be a radical 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 wit including from new mexico and california 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 our economy. and on our budget today monitor the oppor friend fellow new mexican.

i always feel grateful when mexicansear 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 e eat, the businesses we create, and the cultu 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 singley'sseamlents wncprizo eey in

california but cross the country. thank you. metropolitan is the largest wholesale drinking water provider in the united states. we are commit with safe and reliable water with no one left behind. that's the commitment that we all have, that everyone should for water. agencies, 14 cities, 12 water all 19 million people and supplying water support economy of $1.6 trillion. water is life, water is the economy. metropolitan is known for complex and integrated water system and our nitment to water use efficiency. this combination have long sustain the well-being of our communities. our water use today is the same as it was 50 years ago the population through over billions of dollars in investments and conservation, half the water we use isly sourced.

this year california and metropolitan has conserved and added record amount of water in storage. metropolitan has added 1.7 million storage in lake mead equiv in elevation. 3.4-acre feet across in total storage in our system, that's equivalent of 3 years for our users in southern california. colorado delivery to the state in 2023 were the lowest since 1949 however the challenges we face today are enormous. water year 2022 was the triest consecutive in california. immediately proceeded by anded anded from by 2019 and 2023. over 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 e year to year precipitation in the nation b as we call the

whiplash is unprecedented. we new adaptive resilient water management the redent drought challenge reliability to provide water to our area. metropolitan import half of its water from nn california, we are state water project and from the california river. during the last drought our water deliveries were to only -- would only enough for six areas in our region. ad health and safety needs unfortunately the sl highlighted the vulnerability in our system in living water. six of our 26 member agencies that we serve nearly 7 million people were severely impacted by water shortage as a result metropolitan number agencies and partners partners implemented extra in conservation measures, building our past actions andaunch aggressive campaign that promoted water and $46 million in conservation landscape irrigation efficiency members.

hundreds of millions dollars to reengineer water delivery system and improve our flexibility. investment in 200 million construction project for groundedwater storage in antelope valley to allow use on us to store more water from the state sorth of our service area. additional storage and conveyance projects are also in the work. i want to acknowledge the partnership with the proclamation and the commissioner commissioner tuton and thank you for federal investment helping us move to needle on these investments even as california's precipitation becomes more erratic drought conditions are putting pressure on the west overall and what we are looking at. new infrastrucycle capture store water to ensure the communities that we serve have reliable water supply. these include projects like largest recycle project in the country where recycling 150 million gallons a they serve 3.4 million people.

metropolitan developing plan to provide road map to guide us into the future. weather eremesfinancial implications, drought compares to double town on on certify vagues and efficiency investment and more resilient and activity infrastructure. hot poll attended is currently evaluating new infrastructure projects to improve climate resiliency including the largest recycle project in the nation. our capital investment were -- this is beyond what we can ask our rate payers but necessary to he reliable drinking water for generations to come with no one lence in the form of grants, finance and mechanism and assistance to low-income households are essential as wuild more resilient, water systems and adapt to our changing climate but but all requires to partner and work together across watersheds, thank you very much. >> thank you very much sir. mr. kevinr. chairman, for the opportunity to share the challenges farmers face as we struggle to adapt to a changing

climate characterized by drought and ter scarcity in the western states. i farmed a thousand acres with my family in the central oregon high desert. we raised livestock hay gray, specializes in grass seed and vegetable in fact, the county where i farm produces majority ofcarrot seed supply. our region historically r of rain per year so we rely on irr water. federal bureau of reclamation built reservoirs to capture and store storm water where reduced allotments 20% of normal would require multiple wet years to restore reservoir and water supply levels to historic averages, how is drought impacting our farm communities ome farms cannot adapt fast enough. this spring there's already in our small community to liquidate farm equipment of

who made decision to quit. that is taking a toll on our local economynd employment. our rural town has 3 major dealers one of those businesses decided to close their doors and winter. our local school district is one of the in the nation with one-third of our the confederated tribe of warm springs and one-third of our students from hispanic american families who immigrated as farm workers. irrigated agriculture is the economic engine that creates jobs a prosperity for these families and everyone when that engine start to run out of fuel. drought is impact on local environment. dried up it creates micro ecological erosion, proliferation invasive weeds and soil degradation. sustaining soil healthps maintain beauty of landscapes

and essential to farm productivity nearly impossible without adequate irrigation water or sufficient costly inputs. all farms arerafor ways to tighten their belts and findons often come with negative consequences. it's painful telling your loyal employer they no longer have a job and sometimes cutting expenses leads to cutting corners and neglecting investments in maintaining soil health or deferring investments nevertheless farmers like me who want to see american agriculture in rural communiti adapt and invest in drought resiliency. we are adjusting to crop rotation. we are pulling resources in on-farm conservation by monitoring soil moisture, piping ditches, upgrading sprinklers to the latest technology and convert to go drip irrigation.

what collective solutions are available to enhance drought resiliency robust farm management tools like those authorized through the farm bill are enormously helpful to ensuring family farms can survive the risk and volatility in modern agriculture. please continue to support those programs as well as ways to adapt those programs viable to the specialty crops in however, some of the greatest opportunitieso say water not within farm within irrigation system, i urge your support for programs in funding that help e agriculture in the

continue today thrive throughout the 21st century. thank you. >> thank you very much, mr. richard. we return to dr. castiano. >> thank you for the opportunity to spe >> i feel comf can safely say i worked with the best fishermen and farmers in

the world. carbon nitrogen and i word w scientists, engineers and most importantly farmers to understand design and implement systems that minimize trade-offs between productivity and environmental performance. i'm currently the u.s. repr nations intergovernmental panels on soils where i'm the lead author on north american assessment of status of the world soils is a serious risk, precipitation extreme creates challenges to farmers.e and adapt to climate change when and where i m sense without slowing of progress we have made to improving the human condition much of is attributable to agriculture. in the last 50 years alone w have doubled corn production, annual rate, show nos sign of declining and the increase in production has been accompanied by significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. nevertheless, em missions are difficult to e bait because unlike other sectors they are not from fossil fuel combustion.

by-product of processes that are critical for plant growth. they can be extremely effective at adapting to climate change and refusing greenhouse gas emissions, crop residue management. more than crop land across all 50 states ne be surface strainage, this infrastructure connected networks, drainage pipes that can be valued at more than $50 billion sub service drainage improves plant and soilth and allows farmers to make timely field operations that enable successful execution of additionalrvation, precision fertilizer management.

together these factors reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing yield while reducing nigh druggen fertilizer and although drains promote nutrient runoff, opportunities such asetlands which are among the most effective practices and add diversity to the landscape. unfortunately much of our installed more than a hundred years ago and it is deteriorating. in addition capacity of our drainage infrastructure is no longer sufficient owing in part to heavy precipitation and central and eastern u.s. the increase in heavy precipitation also reinforces another growing opportunity. the need for creperies due management. as i mention earlier corn yield and other drops are increasing every year. great testament to farmer innovation and success in u.s. investments and agriculture

research. crop residue detention to reduce matter. now creates significant challenges for farmers. the extra residue keeps soil wet slowing growth ofvation practices such as cover crops. agricultural research service and land grant universities have demonstrated the partial residue harvest and corn systems can increase yield reduce nitrogen and scores of agriculture. moreovers can transformed to renewable fuels that can be made contributions toward decarbonizing other sectorsf our economy. farmers understand and them. education technological accelerate implementation and maximize

benefits of updating infrastructure and harvesting of crop residues for decarbonization and opportunities to reduce emissions can also contribute to productivity of our cropping systems, carbonization of agriculture and other sectors. going forward we cannot need not mitigation. thanks for your time. >> thank you very much, dr. costello. final wit. to testify today. for almost 30 years i studied extreme weather and climate. r work has been cited in the most recent assessment of intergovernmental panel ofimate change or ipcc. ipcc is comprised of hard workd intelligent people who reflect spirit of public service. they are also humans ip cc -- snapshots in time the evolution of scientific understanding. individual experts may have legitimate views that are at odds and that s of course, expected in a diverse scientific

landscape. i'm happy to report that the ipcc working group one assessment on the literature of extreme events in my expertise have with few exceptionsent job accurately reflecting scientific literature. to recent ipcc report attribution at the global scale and also for the united states. i start with some key ipcc terminology. first, detection quo process of demonstrating climate or system affected by lite mate has changed in statistical sense. without providi that change, identified change is detected in observations if it's occurrence by chance due to internal variability is determined tosmall. attribution. quote, the process of evaluating the relative contributions of multiple causal factors to a change or event with an assessment of competence. third, drought. periods of time with substantially below average ly covering large areas during availability resulting in impacts for various components

of natural systems in economic sectors. it is more challenging to achieve detection than say hurricanes or tornadoes because n be defined and measured in many different ways in the contextnificant natural climate vulnerability. impacts is even more challenging. it is more easy drought trends in various places that are the result of rather indication of change in climate. often detection and attribution are confuses and so too is climate variabiith climate change. the ipcc if i understand with high confidence 8 in 10 chance that human cause climate change influences the hydrological drought. four main points summarizing ipcc findings. number one the ip cc focuses on 3 types drought what it calls agricultural or ecological drought. first image. at the global ipcc has not

detected or attributed in any the 3 types of drought for any region with high confidenc0 chance. for the united states which is summarized in the which is in my written testimony ipcc has only confidence that it's two and ten chance in detected or attributes trends in all 3 type of drought for all regions with the exception of western north america where it has medium and 10 chance and detection of attributions and chance in drought. number 2. looking forward to 2100 which is summarized in the figure also in global scale ipcc does not expect that signal of trends and drought will emerge in any region of high confidence, eight)k in ten chance. for the united states ipcc has confidence, two in ten chance that drought will emerge background of natural variability in all three types of drought for all regions except western and central north

america for agricecological drought and also hydrological drought in western north america. both at medium confidence 5 and 10 chance. so i a lot of words but my written testimony include summary tables and paying user from ipcc report that is summarize ipcc findings and associated confidenceev that comes from chapter 11 of ipcc. pages to have report. i encourage you to take a close look at it. in plain english the ipcc concludes that changes to the ate system resulting changes cycle and thus affects drought. at the same time ipcc doesot have high confidence that research has detected change in past drought at the global scale or in the united states nor does ipcc expectch a signal to emerge on internal variability even under most extreme scenario to 2100. such uncertainties in areas of

ignorance can inform mitigation and adaptation policies and planning. fourth and my final point to be absolutely clear i explicitly that human cause climate change supposes significant risk to society and the environment and that various policy responses in the form mitigation and adalatation are necessary and make good sense. thank you and i welcome your questions. >> thank you very much. >> hearing you mr. richards, reminds me of conversat i had with our fishermen in out on a troller one day just to see things firsthand and spend time with the fishing captain who operate it is troller and he turned to me and he said, you have to understand that is not my grandfather's ocean. he grown up fish with his grandfather.

dm not your grandfather's land out in oregon either. >> i think that's right senator. i as farmers i think we do relate to fisherman and we consider stewards of but one of those resources that we are stewards of is not just the oil and the tallahassee cultural heritage that is kind of the foundationrican agriculture and resource industry is like timber and our fisheries and so we are working hard not just to, you know, save water and preserve the agriculture industry but preserve the heritage of american farng.l, we hear very regularly from senator foresters, farmers and fishermen of oregon. could you give us decryption of that plan and its foundation and

science? >> yes thank you, thank you senator. it is a report that the governor asked us to work onto reallexico and the challenges we may see if we do see future. what happened we used to inform the plan was a variety of information that came in from technical experts including a report from 2022 that analyzed the impacts of climate change on our water resources it was developed from a panel of primarily new mexico scientist and researchers who worked in the area for many decades and they looked at a variety of situations from soil, moisture ground water recharge impacts, service surface water to predict what we might see in theall tied with certainty and we

don't know what the future conditions if we see a dryer future and we see a prediction that w to 25% less water coming into our systemsve to develop actions to respond to that. and so that's what the plan does. >> thank you. you models for water utilities are having to change inate change. could you describe specifically how that's impacti utility -- >> sure. i think to'l me the previous way of charging for water was about the use and most what charging. the more water ewe use the more right now is that we are incentivizing people. we pay people to use less water and investing a lot of money to what is through changing the landscape or conservation and

farming, changing how you do that and that's why our water use is 50% half over water we used 50 years ago but for us to continue investing in this water resiliency and what we need to do is build more storage more capture water when we have it and dry conditions we don't h to rely on water we don't have, and to do that we are -- to find new ways to charge without trying to rely on the less amount our business model has to change. we need to find waysrevenue that is not based on the use of water. and sharing in the cost and also ensuring affdability for our communities so we need to find ways leadership from low-income assistance program but what i think we need to do is how we can raise the money locally because weding

but most of the money coming from local investments and how can we do it in a way that there's not force force people to use more water. we are changinowg and last month our board of directors approved for the first time increase in property tax to capture what we call the resiliency investment to help us invest across the board in projects tha forward and reduce on the sale of water and that's the model that we have to do. we are more considerate and we look forward developing businessl for metropolitan and region but also takes partnerships and i appreciateartnership with our partners on the colorado california. during nevada, for example, our partners with metropolitan in southern california in building the largest recycle water project because if we invest together, we are helping each other reduce our dependence i so expanding the pie making tent bigger and together across the watershed and across

southwest and across california us continue to move forward and be resilient. >> thank you very much. my time is up. senator grassley. >> how can farmers in maybe states similar to iowa improve their soil quality and limit emissions without demanding further input from the federal government? >> yeah, thank you for your questions, senator grassley. i think the way that farmers go forward a emissions and adapt and mitigate to climate change, improve soil without system's approach to cover crops and s practices these conservation practice which is areuó named in the 40b for example, they can't be indiscriminantly. on average they me use crop for the environment and as i mentioned

sub surface drainage and crop residue management are two practices that help put that system's approach forward to allow other practices to go i the system better. that's where i see things going. nd you are you more concerned with whether variability or drought in iowa and how can iowans do can do best to prepare so that there's rainfall -- runoff. >> surhe question. clear challenge here is variability and precipitation and thn the science but it's what we hear from the farmers. big precipitation events as we saw yesterday that are a major concern. we heard in the testimony here today about the on going to the drought in iowa that was punctuated but may of this year which through yesrday is

second greatest precipitation may on recfarmers are doing things too i want to add to to droughts. they did achieve very high four years during sustained drought that had in iowa including a record yield and one of those four years we saw a very low yield and that was due to extreme precipitation event storm that you remember very well, given your scientific expertise, i'd l give you an opportunity if you want to take advantage of it to address any science-based statements that were made today and then i a follow-up. >> yeah, thanks. we are in a period where there's a lot of what i would callanecdotal attribution. there's a tragic event in the skies over southeast asia, turbulence events, this is

ca quick attribution of everything that happens to climate change these are very complex phenomena processes. i learned 3 things in reading my colleague's testimony that are fascinating and tell much more important part of the study. one is that the southern california water district uses half of the water that it used to. that is an of human ingenuity and i have to follow up on the third thing i learned despite variability ange in climate over the past generation since my grandparents were young people, has continued to increase and is expected to increase. >> and also i'd like to have you as final question dr. pelky to a you've argued that let's sather than people and just one political party are distancing themselves from the views of the international panel on clima change. >> yeah. i'm allowed to give you an

anecdote. i was invited by senate democrats and what the said would you come before the senate and summarize what the recent at thtime third assessment and so i did that and then last week i was invited by senate republicans to come with the exact same request. could you come summarize. my explanation of this is that at some point ply mate proponents activists decide to do extreme weather events climate change and went beyond what science can support and particularly useful making those arguments because as i said today some cold water on anecdotal attribution claims. >> thank you all the panelists. >> thank you mr. chairman. >> thank you again for being here today especially to share new mexico's with the committee. all new mexicans understand drought but the drought we are

and less predictable. just look at the rio grande river which is not getting the attention that it deserves especially with our brothers and sisters including new mexico who depend on the col legislation that this congress passed it also included the river. that's my way of trying to get the bureau of'sttention. that has allowed the rio grande to sustain the region providing constant water that supports over 6 million people in agriculture. thatha increasing tempe is melting to protect water resources for generations to come, how does new mexico plan to deal with rising temperatures stronger drought and less predictable

precipit you senator for your leadership and for your work on behalfg about how to deal with the next drought situation andty you said in a complex system of surface water supplies and ground water supplies that are interconnected. that ability for us to manage is going to be what we -- what we through the dry years. we are going to be also investing as i said earlier in the actions in the governor's 50-year water action plan that mean we are going to do more conservation in municipalities, in and system wide basis and we also going to haveo look for new water supplies in the future if we continue to see dry years on the horizon.arching everything, we have to make sure water quality is protected. so all of those actions mind every day as we are working to try to make sure we ve our communities. trout is fueling

more intense, frequent and unpredictable wild fires after theire has extinguished. during recent common drought can rapidly develop in mega fires the process. that was the case in 2002 when the forest service lost control of prescribed burn, in new mexico's history. among the impacts billions of dollars in financial damages hundreds of homes lost, the behind -- when man soon strucker wild fire debris into the city reservoir. las vegas only water treatment plan with no backup running. it did not take long before supplies plummeted. mr. hill, how did the water crisis get so dire so fast in new mexico? >> thank you senator a born in las vegas my family's ranch land is in the burned area

and i appreciate your support and hel that o delegation in providing resources and assistance community. the city of las vegas is similar to many other western cities or rural cities throughout the where they are they are relying on a singlef water and in this circumstance unfortunately that supply of water is fed shed and the system wasn't able to handle the debris that was coming through area. the resources that we have with include trying to develop cooperative agreements, trying to improve the infrastructure in the c to make sure they can provide water to their citizens and it's something that many communities around tountry should be thinking about if they are in a similar circumstance to las vegas, so thank you again for your opp >> thank you. mr. chairman, i have several other questions and i will thanks again for this important hearing. >> veryel w senator van holland. >> thank you, thank you

mr. chairman and it's good to be here with you andy colleague from new mexico and i know a lot of you representts of the country but as youer scarcity issues are not limited to the west. in my state of maryland climate change is causing more intense and salt water intrusion which contributes to a growing water scarcity problem in our state and what you're seeing a lot of our communities are r to remain more resilient.

it obviously and we are looking at recycling projects in maryland and i work hard with my colleague to include inclusion ofsource grants pilot pro authorized but we have not yet funded it, provided appropriation, so could you just talk about the importance of water recycling programs and how they're becoming more important because of the impact of climate change. >> thank you senator for the question and i want to say is our success of the nationbe through collaboration across the entire nation and that's why it's important as what agencies and utilities working together in collaboration under the association exchanging knowledge experience and what we need to do because we can't reinvent the wheel. next month i'm actually going

down to university of colorado boulder to talk about how we do it. as governor newsom developedn plan, 10% of water supply in california is going to disappear to do is manage risk because water is so essential to water is so essential to business as an economy and what we need to do is develop risk-base approach. so we can't put all of our eggs in one basket. so we need to diversify portfolio, what i call the as you are looking at fuel water in your community we are looking at water in california. we need to diversify ourer need to find other sources of water that can au150 million gallons a day it's going take water treat the water that was going to go into the ocean and be wasted, recycling it and putting in the ground and we can put stream in treatment plants so during drought conditions we are not water would actually putting water

away and not only for southern california for the entire state and the entire watershed by us working together in partnership and investing and appreciate the funding from the infrastructure bill that we have received in the bureau, i think we need to diversify capturing water infrastructure to build water around and how we whether underground or aboveground. it's a holistic one-water approach that we do it but recycling can with the tech wave is safe, doable and the reliable source of water that when have a dry condition, we can use that water to help cmy and continue thrs the board. >> i appreciate that. >> thank you you know, many farming also think of the midwest, we have a very vibrant farming community in the state of maryland and salt water

intrusion is reducing use of salt water for farmers who oftenply that they can turn to. we know that this w as we see it, you know, it continues to see the impact o change, one of the programs that our farmers areo remain resilient in their operations is the natural resource conservation servust wanted to get your thoughts on the importance of that as one to have tools to address these water issues?he question. the programs that are for farmers are tremendously helpful in incentivizing they are very icial, one challenge is they're not always available an emergency basis when drought is threatening the

soil health and kind of micro ecological disasters on neglected farmland and so i believe there's an opportunity to enhance some of those programs and potentially makes them available on more emergency basis. access grant funding through nrcs to build that program and make it more robust on a nks for mentioning that. i look forward to working with my colleagues as part of bill reauthorization so to the see if we can fine-tune some of those programs to address those issues. >> thank you mr. chairman. >> i'm told we have two senators on the way here, one of the things that you learn quickly is that you

can never believe senators about where they are relative to where supposed to be. there's a legendary story of ted kennedy and saying we need you way, yes he said, i'm at the that he was at the boston airport. crop residues is every year. fuel that can help to decarbonize other sectors of our economy, can you elaborate on that sentence while we wait and see. here we two look at that. >> may i still elaborate. an elaborate. >> as i mentioned crop residues, the production of them is growing every year as we increase yields, it's 100 pounds per acre, that's a significant amendment of residue. those residues can be and they can be turned into

gas for example. >> ethanol. >> they can -- yeah, it(4 could be. in our area, central iowa we one plant that is transforming the crop residues intoenewable natural gas and it's putting it directly into the pipeline. not only the big point here is that not only is that good b the residues also reduces greenhouse gases which i pointed out as one of the hard toast abate sourckes of emissions in our economy at large. >> i will turn to senator romney him. >> thank you mr. chairman.

i'm from the state of utah. estimates that this is the largest period of drought in in the last hundreds of years going backnd last couple of winters we had relief.ked was 114% of n doesn't begio overwhelm the challenges that we've had over longer period of time. the state is a lot of action to try and address that. the gislate hour has changed water rights legislation the in place trust fund, but it continues to be a real challenge. i guess i had thought as a nonclimate scientist that with all the warming there would be more rain and it would get wetter. we keep on hearing about more st storms and so forth wouldn't there be more water, wouldn't there water like iowa or nebraska or

other places but certainly in the intermountain west we are water. i guess question is how is and can agriculture adapt to that kind of change and are you in other parts of the country? i will turn to you mr. richards you first what can agriculture do in a settingw whether it's going get wetter and wetter or dryer and dryer how dommodate that kind of disparity? >> senator, thank you for the question. you know, the history of american agriculture is one of doing more with less and are very good at adapting and finding ways to be more productive more efficient with the resources that we have and i think you're exactly right it's not just scarcity, it's the variability and the unpredictability of water shortages and so the questions i have is can farmers family farmers who have family busses like my own can we adapt fast enough, can we change our business change our continue rotation, adjust to how

wewe are going stewarding the soil and preparing it for the variability in the future. can we do that fast enough and so as your colleague asked earlier, i think that there are programs within nrcs that can enhance and incentivize some of that adaptation. on the ground ultimately, though we need investment in infrastructure and not just to save water but to manage it more collaboratively on basin wide approaches which some of the colleagues here at the table also mentioned and so in central oregon we are finding ways for irrigation districts and oth normally would operate in isolation to more collaboratively and invest in major projects that completely transform the way that we are using water. >> thank you. >> in iowa what are you experiencing there in terms of climate and -- and what degree are farmers and ranchers able to adjust? >> thank you for the question

senator romney. 's ithallenge for us and of course, variability from drought to precipitation excess as well. we have a drainage infrastructure in o just like everybody -- every state in the uni we are using like we heard earlier. we take water that drain, not only loss down stream it mitigates thathe crop productivity later in the year. >> yeah, thank you. i just note mr. chairman, i ortant topic and happy to learn about it and ask questions and learn from these members of the panel. i would note that, i perhaps enr would be the committee that would be on this more than budget. i hope that we in budget can deal with the $1.5 trillion deficit we have and find solutions because if we don't deal with that, we won't have the resources to be able t with emerging crisis as they

develop as a result of climate disruption of various kinds. thankou mr. chairman. >> and thank you for accepting my invitation coming in to discuss the prospect for reforms significantly reduce expenditures. i was grateful that you took the time to join me during hours office. senator marshal. >> thank you mr. chairman, thanks again to our panel for being here. some of my questions may b redundant so forgive me as you'd imagine we are running back and forth ts morning as well. ly start with mr. richards, look, i'm a fifth generation farm kid. my life when there wasn't some place in kansas that was suffering from drought and my grandparents would say the same thing,ivough the dirty 30's and this and that. and i think you would agree with rs and ranchers were the original conservationists and given the tools and flexility they are to the land and grow the most with the at least possible.

.. question word there is always opportie do resemble your remarks in the sense w optimistic and seeking way that exist are more helpful through fsa the safety net that exists. i would say unfortunately those programs tend to be -- that catered more towards commodity crops we focus more o thespecialty crops. often those programs don't worke for those of us the western crops. similarly those programs are very helpful in conservation efforts water and soil conservation. not work well

on the short-term emergency basis.they are meant to or designed to paradigm shifts for farmers. with drought we need to adapt right away kagan many of these practices areced upon us of things we have been doing for decades. doing no till farming on our farm. cover crops is like some that is something new but there certain places in kansas where that does part of the said they simply not enough moisture crops we were ever we do we do no till farming for a lot of reasons for its economical and the great conservation. were acquiring climate practices be done. it's like you can pick and choose again there is no way to do coverñ-ps on the western third or western half of the state. if you have any concern loosing us the right thing to d

we will be losing some of the opportunities here by to adapt all these particulars? >> yes senator marshall. i share your concern. hazard would prescribeconcernwould prescribe conservation ac sister that are in place. you made the anecdote about kansas i will provide went over off to britain note till tillage often is a work in north-central i was cold, it's too wet. we do you think about the system. those systems which are flat, erosion is not a problem for her to think warm up and wrap the soil and get the crop planted i like to say as you move towards rulemakingt we are at have to have to be thinking about field the scale analysis and accounting of greenhouse gas emissions and conservation practices. how they are effective and specific scenarios. that's what we need to go. >> and just as concern about with its equipped program or whatever program it is that we lose some of our farmers and ranchers because they cannot do

believe me, they would do them all if it's goi work. the last question i will stick with doctorto do no till farming you have to have pesticides you have to able to kill the weeds in and that type of thing. there's a lot of frustration in kansas over the prescriptive is going to prevent us from doing so these conservaje you doing in iowa? any concern >> in iowa we have some concerns. we have seen an increase in tillage in places where no till works because of the lack of herbicide availability. effective herbicide availability. >> to simple just give our farmers and ranchers of the tools their quencher the right why see coming up the next farm built or very much consumes meat thank you very much mr. chairman rex thank you sender marshall. >> tnkmr i. chair. colleagues, there are a few places where the challenges of climate change extreme weather and fluctuation a precipitation are

felt more acutely than in the corresponding water scarcity insecurit host crude challenging circumstances and at times some intense conflicts for water users in california. you can s from the river basin onriver basinon the oregon border to the delta all the way down to the colorado river. in a between congress fought relentlessly the inflation reduction act include in funding for to help experiencing not just but severe drought. to drive collaborative solutions for water conflicts. just yesterday i participate i interior with some of our agriculturaler users in the san joaquin valley ira drickiest water in the san joaquin valley. you have work with interior alleviate colorado riv

conflicts with creative solutions. can you speak to important it is for congress to c providing this type of funding? >> thank you for the leadership. to me, yesterday's sitter ceremony is an example of the collaboration.the farmers in central valley. and that help us be able to leverage that is a great collaboration of hermas have been leading the way and they cannot do it alone but they'd financially. were able to invest a huge amount money in the conservation appeared at work with the farmers who we call

seasonal farming. that meansf dur wintertime that's really valuable across the nation.uge competition for whatever they are farming. we can keep the land idle money financially. and getting the funding to conserve more water so we can put and not only serve california for doing the same thing in the irrigation down by yuma aware byng the seasonal farming to line canals and be more i work with the tribes. were apartment with week. to find new ways of farming.

behind every farm there are communities and people that uplifts people and funding from the ira in the reclamation's help is helper quickset is great. additional questions seasonal farming is a great example we been working on through alternative use of battle plans as well. if that's funding drought i i want to highlight today. infrastructure as a whole has declined peak in the 1970s. congress has begun to rectify this by making transformational investments in order infrastructure to the bipartisan infrastructure law. we know funding through that measure is just a down payment is not the end all be all it is continue to fund water infrastructure to up water systems become more resilient to climate change.

the question she was helping how can congresshelpingcongress best help water systems continue to improve the infrastructure? quirks to meet the affordability question ise. appreciate the bill introduced. and for most of the rates can but the biggest issue we have as is communities areuf jobs or in sanpton we need to find ways to help them. we invest in the resiliency we have $80 billion investment when intimate cackle weit's mechanically do it without causing hardship on that communities it's underserved o disadvantage? during the 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. >> am glad you mention the low income german need for low income water assistance well. you know who is hardest hit when it comes to increase costs for the last question and closing is can you speak for a moment about

the value or need and funding ongoing and maintenance operations. >> it is critical. part of the ira funding one is how n independence on imported water? i will givf committees in southern california are ongroundwater. a number of them are struggling with ensuring they maintain the need whether it's because of contamination. leave an interest in making sure those communities stay on groundwater if they get off groundwater and the systems fail import water which has is a huge rate shoc asked to help us fund some of these communities in san fernando ann compton and santa ana in our regent to ensure they stay on groundwater protect them from thenation provide our communities safe water. if we can continue thoseot only provide resiliency but also ensure we are doing the right thing for our future and safe water foral thing

colleagues for the committee to conside is pretty simple example of leaky pipes and a drought stricken western i'd say the less think 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. if we are going to make theseo modernize our infrastructure let's not make the same mistake and get the better we maintain, the less likely will be future of ous resource to something as simple as a leaky leaky pipes. thank you chair. >> excellent words to end on prone to t witnesses for prayer before the committee to the full written statements are part of the information for all satirist questions for the record are due by 12 noon tomorrow with signed hardcopies delivered to the commteitclerk copies are also fine. we asked the witnesses to

within seven days of receipt with a note for the business for the canoe think the witnesses in the hearing is adjourned. [bac noises] [background noises]