creating a sustainable colorado river. it is imperative that the actions not reduce errors -- arizona's flexibility to manage its own water supply.

arizona takes the lion share. second, the reliability and sustainability is critical. central arizona is key to existing and future travel settlements. there is a need for augmenting the colorado river. 2012 colorado river water supply in arizona strategic vision. legacy additional opportunities for federal supported programs that conserve water and benefit the entire system rather than one particular user especially considering how much some users of artie done. thank you for the opportunity to provide you with a snapshot. >> thank you. appreciate your comments.

>> thank you for the opportunity to testify today i am the water resources manager. as senator cantwell mentioned's current snowpack levels are 9 percent of normal. this is the lowest on record because of the low snowpack's members with diminishing flows and irrigation districts are cutting off supplies to junior users. a drought was declared in may. the state drought declaration, declaration relief can be provided for those experiencing hardship and the improved flows. regarding agriculture in the state currently difficult decisions are being made about what crops give priority water and how best to save fish. as the chairman mentioned the washington state state department of agriculture anticipates $1.2 billion in crop was this year the state the acoma basin with the bureau of reclamation has built multiple stores

storage projects the drought means less water is available for junior water users. in the last two weeks we already issued 30 emergency drought permits to junior users. in the basin's we have sent out curtailment orders already to junior users. and the walla walla we are actively working with your gators, gators, tribes, and other water managers to develop leases and provide flows for struggling families. regarding communities in the state the largest municipality, seattle tacoma have all indicated they will not experience water shortages this year. these utilities are taking proactive steps to store rainwater. however, other utilities particularly the smaller community systems may cause

problems. there's funding from the legislature that allows communities to rehabilitate or deepen wells as needed or construct enter ties with adjacent systems. regarding flows for fish in the dungeness river on the olympic peninsula of washington was committed to 13 leases already where farmers will let 1000 acres of farmland in return flows will be improved particularly in that critical a sort. we're also in the process of leasing water from the reclamation district in the upper yakima basin to. right now and the walla walla water flows are extremely low which is impacting both irrigator use and fish passage and so currently partners are shifting flow from creek to creek to aid struggling salmon i no. and i hope you is key to the successful implementation of emergency drought response in washington the work we

have done actively developing collaborative partnerships with key watersheds. partnerships include tribe, local government, state government, water managers, federal government._of doing business where we. new way of doing business where we have irrigator supporting enhancement projects for fish. we have fisheries and tristan drive supporting water supply projects. from these partnerships with development of a flow requirements. >> will mitigation strategies who have to rapidly drink. a few examples. we developed sharing water among irrigation districts and provide water for streamflow. in addition all in addition all parties including the acoma tribe have agreed to a flexible mitigation approach for big large drought walls that when used we with you have mitigation water not

upfront but later on in the season. the acoma integrated strategy was developed working with all these partners. when funded it will expand the reservoir improve facility operations and improve fish passage and fish habitat providing more water for these critical drought. in the dungeness watersheds the dungeness irrigator's association has agreed to voluntarily reduce their water diversions during these drought times. this is this is remarkable given that the water rights allow them to take more water. easier gators are also entering into lease agreements so that water can be left in the stream during critical drought on. in the walla walla irrigators, tribes, and all levels of government are moving water around to protect the fishery and sure used for irrigation. umatilla is improving waters. thank you. >> welcome.

>> members of the committee, my name is jim is very, executive director of the western governors association, an independent nonpartisan organization representing the governors of 19 western states and three us territories. it is an honor to appear before you today to discuss the great glacial drought. well over a year ago nevada governor and current chairman of wga brian sandoval announced his intention to devote his energies as chairman of wga on the critical issue drought. this announcement was applauded by the western governors because as an issue it speaks to the strength of wga. it is timely actionable, bipartisan, a top priority of our governors and unfortunately a perennial concern in the west. designed by governor sandoval, the western governor drought form is an effort that speaks to the pragmatic nature of governors who as chief

executives are focused on practical, commonsense solutions to state and regional challenges. i will not belabor the severity of the present drought or its impacts. you and other witnesses have established that case, case and there has been extensive coverage of drought impact on california where snow levels are now zero percent of normal in the snowpack of the sierra nevada's has officially disappeared. these severe conditions are not limited to the golden state. washington governor j ensley declared a statewide drought citing the fact that where they should have been 8 inches of snow they were glacier lilies. governor brown has declared drought emergencies. early packs with the 4th lowest on record.

governors have taken decisive measures. california governor jerry brown issued an executive order mandating a 25% a 25 percent reduction. governor is lee has spearheaded washington state participation in the water resource management plan which will empower water users in a rich agricultural area to collaboratively address the risk of drought to agriculture, communities, and the environment. the governors of address drought collectively through the western governors drought form. the form is a multifaceted enterprise that has organized drought workshops hosted webinars produced reports and engineered an online resource library for officials and water managers to share drought management best practices case studies and innovations. they hosted a series of workshops throughout the west each of which focused

on drought impact on a particular economic sector including energy command culture mining, manufacturing, and tourism. the lessons learned have been memorializing online resource library and will be summarized in a report issued by the governors later this month. and wrestling in wrestling with drought western governors have enjoyed productive partnerships with the federal government. western governors provided critical leadership for the original enactment and recent reauthorization of the national integrated drought information system. this has this has led to continuing work with the national oceanic and atmospheric a ministration unimproved coordination and dissemination of drought and extreme weather data and analysis to support the resource management decisions for states. supports the water program of the us geological survey

as well as the snow survey activities. these programs provide valuable data to inform decisions. we recognize the value of partnerships. the collaboration to craft a unified operation plan led to an expedited water transfer process among other benefits. furthermore we recognize the importance of infrastructure investment the value of streamlined permitting for infrastructure and the significance of federal support for state and local watershed. the governors deeply the governors deeply appreciate the attention of this committee is investing and look forward to working with you to craft solutions that apply the substantial resources of the federal government and respect the authority and expertise of states to manage water within the boundaries.

>> thank you. >> good morning. i would like to thank the committee for this opportunity to present on this important issue of the west drought and thank the committee for taking the time to put attention on this matter. i would like to especially thank chairwoman murkowski for her leadership, the role she is taken in this effort and also for her recent visit to california to see the conditions for stand -- 1st hand. i offer anyone the opportunity to come to our farm for a visit to see conditions for yourself. i'm here today representing the family farm alliance grassroots organization comprised of family farmers ranchers irrigation districts and allied industry groups that have representation through the 16 western states. the main mission of the alliance is to provide and

ensure the availability of reliable affordable irrigation water supply. have. have a 6th generation to farm in the central valley. my great great great grandfather came over from germany in the 1850s. through a through a lot of hard work became a successful cattle rancher. we're fortunate to find some of the land. a live on the farm with my wife and three children. i already follow toy 5 percent of my ground's. that may take the numbered 80 percent or higher. we mentioned regulations for fish little earlier. the allocation and trajectory is based on temperature modeling for fish only. there is not enough now not enough cold water available for fish which may completely eliminate all the

collaborative work that has been done to provide water supply for different water users. obviously a very disturbing time for me and my family's. throughout the last 15 months there is no denying that hydrologic issues of been plaguing california. in the last 15 months there has also been significant rainfall. very precious at the time of this critical drought. but we have seen over and over is the and captured part of the rain events that has flowed out the majority of flowed out of the ocean and not been able to be captured by our water system. california relies on an engineered water systems water to the sacramento san joaquin delta. two thirds of the waterfalls in the north of the state and two thirds of the population is in the south part of the state. it's been a system that works for years. now with this layering of regulation we have seen we

have seen all flexibility taken out of the system. i system. i asked today of the federal government you have the opportunity to ensure that regulations when in place are implemented with some balance and accountability accountability's. it will be one thing if these last years of regulation and limitation have seen some improvement but we're not. there needs to be a clear look at those regulations, and they need to have accountability and balance. on the impact i want to just make the.quickly, 1 acre has an extreme impact over a large area. it is not just income to farmers but represents loss of work to my people on the ground. if i don't run the tractor on that ground i don't buy tires, parts fuel parts, fuel, all those associated industries of bringing those products suffer. that then means i don't produce an actual product. the the product is a neural

processing planner supermarket stock shelves come out to something else that may be transported across the nation. i then maybe to not take financing. affects the bank. it's a large ripple effect. we have over 800000 acres this year. the economic impact is huge. we have seen food prices rise. for taking vessels away. ten to ten to 15 percent may not been a lot of you have a disposable income but it means accolade if you on the low-wage i have difficulty providing for your family. we can't take these products away from people. producing producing food in the most environmentally and ethically friendly ways in the entire world. we have enforceable penalties they don't pay

living wages. wages. they don't have environmental standards and don't have enforceable penalties. i no maritime. everyone uses a lot of water we all rely on water. every time you keep your consuming water. we are ultimate water consumers. do we want water to come from places like california or do we want to become from other countries. we have to have accountability for environmental regulations. we need leadership. we need your help and asking for today. >> thank you. i appreciate the personal touch. and finally welcome to the community. >> thank you.

>> chairman, chairman members of the community thank you for the opportunity to testify western drought conditions. experiencing moderate to exceptional drought much of it is concentrated in the west. although there have been slight improvements higher than average temperatures and lower than average precipitation have resulted in low record snowpack in early runoff. the short term seasonal outlook for these trends to continue. long-term predictions more than three months are more difficult to make especially on a regional basis. chief among the challenges is managing scarce water supplies and ensuring public health and safety.

states states and local water entities typically lead efforts to prepare for a drought. you've heard some excellent examples. due to the primary role in water allocation even without drought 80% of state water managers surveyed by the gal expect water shortages within the next decade. key concerns range from population growth and lack of information on water availability and use to potential impacts of climate change and effects of extreme whether events such as floods and droughts. a prime example.

in these areas challenges include how to accommodate existing demands including growing populations and competing uses. also comply with federal and state environmental and other laws. as you heard again from german murkowski -- chairman of murkowski and mr. connor reclamation is estimated that supply shortages could be in effect as early as 20162070. central valley project water deliveries have been significantly cut back affecting junior and senior water users fish and wildlife resources recreation and other industry. smaller projects are also challenged by drought and are experiencing water delivery cutbacks. the basin is example.

although there are wide range of options for addressing drought the federal rule in implementing options is not always clear-cut. options often discussed can be categorized as follows. supply driven options that can be demand driven those that involve the governance our institutional structures and those that fund research planning and monitoring activities of support state and local effort. all of these all of these options have their pros and cons and involve trade-offs. for example developing construction of surface and groundwater storage projects may provide more water and opportunity for supply and demand systems are fewer than they once were and costs are significant. likewise likewise developing water use in desalination projects can also be costly. project evaluations have become more complex. some of the suggestions to facilitate project

development and operation while others are more protective. to address authorization and funding issues some have called for an authorization process the reclamation similar to that enacted for the corps of engineers and the water resource development act of 2014. they also call for public-private partnerships authorization of nonfederal funding and creation of or reactivation of federal loan programs. some have some have also proposed in governments or institutional structures such as drought permissions councils or water banks or markets. difficulty in expanding water markets is the relationship between state water rights and the federal government role and having deferred primarily to states primacy in water allocation. lastly lastly some commonly

pursued options to support drought resilience and response of the local level provide technical and financial assistance for drought planning, monitoring, and mitigation providing incentives and supporting technological research and development. addressing drought in the west is challenge for decision-makers at all levels of government with the federal government should continue or expand existing policy supporting these efforts to pursue other legislative options is likely to be a matter of ongoing debate. that concludes my testimony and i'm happy to answer questions. >> thank you. i you. i was hoping you would have a silver bullet. we have done this analysis. >> i wish i did. >> we always that you did. each and each and every one of you have mentioned collaboration, cooperation flexibility, but it seems that collaboration amongst

our agencies whether on stateside federal side to working with tribes this is all key. and yet we are still faced with a situation where the drought is extreme in places in the forecast is not looking very good and the uncertainty makes it even more difficult. are there beyond are there beyond what we see today and i'm interested in hearing your perspective what arizona is doing are there ways that we can provide for greater collaboration with our federal agencies? what are the barriers that we have right now that are limiting our opportunities to do more clearly with

less, and i'm going to throw this out to all of you. and i'm going to have to go vote but i'll be back fllow-up. if you want to leadoff and and i would ask all of you weigh in on this. >> first i we will say i will say that the collaboration with the federal government the department of interior has been exemplary so far. the biggest roadblock's for collaboration and dealing with drought is planning on the colorado river in the lower basin really number one a drought in california has reduced flexibility to participate in potential ways to save water. second the environmental issues revolving around the solvency to drain water goes into the solvency. we could save a lot of that water by creating efficiencies and that irrigation district but for the environmental issues. lastly honestly, the fact

that california under the 1968 basin project 1968 basin project act does not take shortages, only nevada and arizona to has created a bit of an unlevel playing field. and so i think we can use the help of the department of interior specifically on that issue and find a way to create more equity at the negotiating table. >> mr. connor, comments. >> well, i do agree that the issue raised is the next wave of areas of collaboration that we have to deal with and some of those issues are fairly tough which is why they have not been resolved at this time. solvency is certainly one of those areas. but nonetheless i can.in the colorado river basin where the last 15 years we've had six or seven major agreements that have reduced water use that have increased storage created

institutional mechanisms to incentivize the saving of water and yet here we are facing significant percentage possibility that we are going to face a shortage of the basin and 2016 and 2017. but yet the states are still at the table. we have a system pilot conservation agreement that we have all put together upper and lower basin and federal government to create more water to look for new ways to conserve in place more water on lake mead. there is an mru that has been agreed to the states are looking at mechanisms to create another million acre by 2018. and these are the mechanisms that we are going to have to finalize through agreements. but the idea also is that we have got to create knew relationships between the parties, and that is what we have been doing. i would just note quickly

that the success of the arizona water bank which has benjamin is the successful as i found out even more so this morning was facilitating great part by the 2004 arizona water settlement act of congress passed which facilitated arizona taking colorado river entitlement every year my good portion of which has been stored to alleviate drought situations and it also resolved to major indian right water settlements and provide an opportunity for them to create increased water supply. as a combination of the investment we made for conservation looking at the storage opportunities a regulating reservoir saving 60 to 70,000 acre-feet per year's once again keeping that water in lake mead. investments, new agreements, new relationships and certainly i think the solvency we're going to have

to look at new authorities probably. >> thank you. senator cantwell. >> thank you, madam chair. i think i will continue on this issue. thank you for visiting the northwest and i think you were at yakima basin compact meeting years ago with myself and then senator -- and secretary salazar and congressman hastings along with others who i no you have great familiarity there but as we have seen these drought conditions persist in the west over years and as we have tried to make plans for changes you know you mentioned increasing storage capacity. what are the major barriers for the department if we continue to do authorization project by project and it takes years of planning and studying and again i'm not talking about changing environmental laws, but what

do we need to do to give more flexibility, the major barriers that exist to rapid response to some of these conditions? >> i think you no obviously the larger the project the more complicated of the more likely to impact other water users as well as the environment command i think is a fundamental question a fundamental question related to the economic feasibility of larger projects. i think sometimes we have been focused on larger and better but it bogs down our ability to move through permitting processes. and i will give -- the basin is a perfect example with the reservoir proposal which proved to be one of the more expensive ways to your water supply. with the and the numbers came out it called into question whether it could be afforded and cause the parties to go back to the

table to a much more robust and comprehensive approach to dealing with water supply issues from the environment to the water supply to facilitating conservation. and i think at the end of the day the smaller projects those -- and we have been doing this consistently for ten to 15 years. the water enhancement project. i think it's from a ten year time frame we created about 30 to 35000 acre-feet of reduced diversion and demand. that water has been allocated to -- improve the conditions of the fishery while also being retained by the irrigation community to help weather drought. we're making great advances through a series of smaller projects that are less controversial, more affordable and proved to be yielding adding to the bottom line and bringing in more broad support.

it is not always smaller is better but at times we get bogged down with the larger projects. >> you are reminding me that a process does solve most problems. that step of going through that larger exercise i think was a catalyst to bring all the parties together at the table hearing that i was chair of this committee on the san joaquin, so a problem. after 18 after 18 years of legal battles people decided to come to the table. work of this issue of what we need to do to provide more flexibility to the agencies to support those kinds of cooperative efforts >> i think we have good authorities right now that allow us to participate as a cost share partner and what has happened in a lot of cases and i think we should look at more opportunities to facilitate this, the federal government is a participant in a lot of projects. i would concede that when the federal government is a

project development activity there are a lot of hoops to weed through with respect to the regu. there's some of that will we participate, and a lot of cases the state and local entities have developed project concepts and are looking for federal permits as well as federal assistance with respect to cost share and kashi and that's appropriate a lot of cases because they have federal interest is take. we have the environmental laws we all have those with respect to the fisheries command we have a a federal project that we want to maintain the viability and agricultural interest for long-term. a lot of cases facilitating the federal government to continue to be a partner in these efforts whether a conservation project small storage project restoration projects as a partner providing flexibility for financing standpoint for

nonfederal entities will help facilitate results. >> thank you. >> thank you, manager. it's great to see tom. first question to you, you talk about lake mead. it looks like it's we are in our 16th year of run off of the colorado river. lake mead is likely to hit

>> yes. there are tensions between the senior priority was -- users in the cities in central arizona who take central arizona private water. we have been working in trying to help come up with a way to do things like intentionally create surplus that the secretary refer to to try to prop up the levels those things are going fairly well. we do not have a deal on the table. in central arizona are agricultural users will suffer the brunt of the shortage if there is a

two-way shortage in 2016 or 17. that. the lose about half of the renewable oversupply. they have options to pump groundwater. but under but under our underground storage and recovery program they also have options to partner with arizona tribes and arizona municipal users who have higher priority central arizona project water. those folks the agricultural users can partner with those entities, take the colorado river water and in return those entities will get a future credit to pump groundwater for under the agricultural land. the department of water resources has looked at the permitting that goes along with that the program and have tried to create as much flexibility as possible to make those partnerships probable as we approach the shortage. >> thank you. very quickly you talk about augmentation. one of the most promising areas to augment the resources that we have?

>> the lower basin states including arizona funding, whether modification trying to increase flows. we're also we're also looking at potential desalination a brackish groundwater within our state of course our participating to the hospice of the minute 319 process cartridge implementation with mexico to look at potential binational desalinization to caps on nation with mexico and also potentially partnering with california for desalination with california and arizona. those are the main sources. >> thank you. >> deputy secretary connor in the colorado river basin study the bureau of reclamation identified efficiency and conservation projects as some of the most cost-effective approaches to

increasing available water supplies for users. in other words, actual delivered water. in new mexico the state is elected to pursue any diversion project on the gila river under the arizona water settlement act instead of focusing on efficiency projects that would help stretch existing water supplies for. as reclamation begins its review process with a value planning study this summer i'm wondering how the lessons learned from the basin study will factor into consideration of the cost and benefit of the various projects that could be pursued under the settlement act. >> senator, i think and looking obviously what we do our studies one of the areas that we look at alternatives. as you pointed out, i think that will be something that does give scrutiny. as to the water supply demands trying to be met by

this project 1st of all and then were the options available to meet that demand. overall through our history and in my prior capacity of have the opportunity to spend time up. and testify appear and testify on water resources. one of the things i went back and looked at the back of the envelope speculations for the relative different types of projects. there were a couple of large-scale storage projects one was the black walk reservoir proposal, another one in california. the cost per acre foot of overall project cost versus yield somewhere in the neighborhood of 17,000 of $46,000 per acre foot. you look at the water smart conservation proposal that we have gotten, water conservation will not create a knew supply for a new demand but it certainly can lead to saving water, putting that in storage, maintaining flexibility in a situation.

those are down from $500-$800 per acre 500 to $800 per acre foot. the top 16 water reuse projects that we have which have great drought resistance aspects to them you know they provide water about 8000 $40,500. it gives you the kind of range's. we made investments. the projects in the river basin are around 2500 per acre foot. the major infrastructure improvement in california tie between two canals which resulted in about 40,000-acre foot per year on average $850 per acre foot. so we are making improvements that i i think are adding to the bottom line of water availability. every project needs to be evaluated on its own merits but it shows you arrange and the difference and quite frankly what we found is we have a water demand. water managers this is not

a federally driven program. we have the availability but we are getting applications on a yearly basis that greatly exceeds the available resources because water managers view that as the best best opportunity to heal water supply. in a lot of cases much better than large storage. >> thank you command i appreciate your focus on looking quite transparently at the cost per acre foot and they yield of these individual projects. that's incredible important's given the stress i want to move to you quickly. for a number of years now the bureau of reclamation has leased water from the local water utility to maintain flows in the rio grande necessary to support local wildlife populations. many have suggested expanding the program to lease water from local

irrigators on a voluntary basis. can you can you tell us a little bit about how water leasing has been used in other states around the west to meet water needs and what new mexico should keep in mind as we consider expanding the toolbox. >> thank you for the question. the other areas that this has been done we heard testimony here today in washington state where the department of ecology has worked with having water left in streams by having people voluntarily agreed to use that water. i don't no honestly if the state is paying for that. that would be a question for my colleague over here. california is another place where people with senior water rights have entered into long-term contracts with the visible areas to move water on a voluntary basis. usually structured as a

contract. reclamation a contract. reclamation has done some work providing guidelines for long-term transfer of water and short-term transfer of water in those situations. so those options are out there. others have proposed to do similar things in other areas of the west command that could include new mexico. >> thank you. >> thank you, madam chairman nice to see you again. thank you for being here. you are aware of my efforts to pass legislation which would compile the puerto rico maintenance backline into a report that will be available to the public and updated every two years. your staff has been helpful in working with my office to move this legislation unanimously passed the senate. will you commit to continue to work with me to move this legislation so that we can understand what the total backlog is and eventually the way to address it? >> yes, senator, for commitment. that is a valuable bill. my staff does the same

thing. >> folks across the west, we are in serious need of more water. ranchers in my state, big horn state, big horn basin need water to grow alfalfa raise cattle. many have junior water rights and worry about getting the water that they need to keep there livelihood. the sentiment and the west has always been the old saying whiskey is for drinking, waters are fighting over. the best solution to solve the water crisis is to increase water storage in the west. the state of wyoming has developed a strategy to increase water storage command i support him on this. i've introduced legislation s 1305 to expand the storage capacity of the reservoir to provide more water for southwest wyoming. together we are looking at other options to expand our reservoirs. my question my question is will you continue to work with me with governor made to help move water storage projects forward, and what steps are you taking to

address this need across the west for more water storage? >> to the wyoming specific example that you referenced senator, of course we will be happy to keep working. we had some activity on the fund no reservoir issue. we want to work through the technical aspects in particular but it is -- i think it is demonstrating where we see that there is value and economic viability am particularly looking at existing storage facilities and seeing how we might increase. i'm committed am committed to continue to work with your office. overall we have a number of storage proposals that we are continuing to do work on particularly in california, 2004 legislation required us to look at for major new storage opportunities in california, one of those is a facility that is in the delta itself and did go through a a phase one damn raise the increased water

storage by 60000-acre feet and looking at a 2nd raise potentially other hundred thousand. we have completed some in there in the process of completing others. we're looking at increasing storage in the reservoir south of the delta and california and think that that might have a great opportunity to provide additional water supply. as i mentioned, we looked at smaller regulating reservoirs. the most successful aspect is the block reservoir. obviously we got 60 million-acre feet of storage. and and we're trying to get more water into those existing facilities but there is great value in the regulating reservoir and is yielding about 60 to 70000 60 to 70,000-acre feet of yield. $172 million. the major municipalities pay for that. we provided technical assistance and once again that proved to be a great value to the dollar

per acre foot added. it is not a comprehensive look. a comprehensive look. it is more where there have been projects identified that we think there are responses for that want to look at storage and we certainly believe that is one of the tools we need. >> i appreciate it. with increasing water water storage in terms of wyoming, the wilder water development is working on creating a viable strategy. i know your familiar with that. congress enacting language, broadening authorities under the safety of dams act. will your bureau then have the authority to integrate a dam safety fix with wyoming water development commission the proposal to analyze the facility? >> we need to look at that authority issued under our existing safety of them legislation but i do think it warrants -- we need to be looking as we're doing major

corrective action to existing dam commotion look at the opportunity to increase storage but i do think there is an authority issue there that we need to work through kashi issues. >> finally, in your written testimony you mentioned other witnesses have testified that the drought is not just in california but in many western states, and i believe any drought relief bill should not just address california. there should be a west wide. >> chairwoman ranking member senator members of the community the governors have been phenomenally engaged in the western governor drought form. the invention of our current chairman. as we have gone across the west senator governor martinez of new mexico has done a workshop a workshop on drought impacts on

tourism and recreation. governor brown of california hosted a workshop on drought impact on agriculture. mr. connor participated with us in las vegas when we did a workshop that governor sandoval posted on drought impact on water supply. we fully recognize that this is a regional issue and it demands a regional collaborative solution. >> thank you, madam chairman. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you. chair, for holding this hearing. we have been hearing from the testimony of the western united states experiencing record low snowpack unusually dry weather the warmest temperatures on record and these drought conditions having tremendous impact on committee and economy. we have also heard the

cooperation between states and western states and federal government in different entities to address these impacts. to make matters worse many climate models are projecting that portions of the west are likely to get more dry and hot. so now more than ever i believe that the federal government should take the lead in supporting research on how climate change we will exacerbate drought conditions like the ones we have been talking about today. mr. connor, what does the department of interior do to better understand the impact of these climate related events, and how is that informing our understanding of what we will do going forward?

>> thank you, sen. we have a number of different areas by which we are participating particularly in the area a better understanding the impact of climate change and water resources and systematically trying to assess the right strategies. we participate in our us geological survey the global change program. certainly we have had a focus on putting together a more transparent use because not only can we use that that there are smart people outside the department. in open water data initiative to try to standardize data enough that we can put it out and make it accessible because we think others particularly in academia can help us use that data to better understand the changes that

have occurred. and from a more practical standpoint we have a basin study program within the bureau of reclamation and we are looking at opportunities to assess on a basin wide scale supply, demand imbalances over 50 years using the best climate data and downscale models to assess power supply an individual basis. >> as we know since we are projecting dryer hotter weather going forward because of climate change, is that going to make certain technologies suddenly economic where they were not before? anyone is free to comment. desalinization of brackish water in arizona i i think san diego has a billion-dollar project, desalinization project. they will deliver 7 percent of the county's needs.

going forward it seems like you mentioned the us geological survey. i no you know, the aqueducts california for example, go through some very arid areas. and there is a lot of evaporation. i no the us geological survey study covering certain very low precipitation areas covering the aqueducts of that you do not lose the evaporation. going forward are we going to see certain approaches become economical start to make sense play desalinization i like that covering the aqueduct. only going to only going to start seeing those things become economical? and anyone can win. >> i will -- thank you. i we

will you. i will comment. for example, we are releasing water, one season leases. ten years ago we paid $137 an acre. this is about $275. just a reverse option always solicit goods. costs of double. with more frequent drought what does that mean? for example the strategy there is some controversy run the benefit cost analysis. one one of the proposals is to have a pumping system set up because there are 200,000-acre feet of dead storage. if you could pump that water it's an enormous amount of water. i think it could be that as water is more scarce projects like that make more economic sense. >> any other comment? >> look at some statistics

for desalination of water. for example in texas the desalinated brackish groundwater the cost is about $1000 per acre foot. for pacific ocean for pacific ocean desalinization is about 1500 to $2,100 in a conflict. you can pay that was central arizona project cities to treat and deliver portable water at a about 1200 to $1,600 per acre foot. it's becoming more economical and in the range of what we're seeing now. >> well, thank you. i no that someone mentioned israel. they are doing these -- they are very arid area of great agricultural sector. they are exploring desalinization. as we go as we go ahead of the future there are certain technologies that will become economic. >> senator. >> i'm happy to allow senator king to go.

>> thank you. >> really one major question this may be something we take for the record. i'm interested in the historic data of water in the west. are we facing a knew crisis or are we seeing a return to a normal situation over the last thousand years or 10,000 years? i think that is an important question because it will inform a response. does anyone have a response? do you have any background? 's. >> a quick thought. as as an example -- we have about 100 years of streamflow data. that -- >> is the blink of the eye. >> the blink of the eye. the example i want to give,

and the last 15 year drought the end streamflow the runoff is the lowest on record. through tree ring data there has been research that is highlighted that it's in the lowest 1st percentile of the last 1200 years. there are new mechanisms to look at the estimates of the runoff within the basin command we are at the lowest levels. we may have a similar reconstruction of data in other basins that we can now start comparing to really find out where we are and how significant is the drought because john is cyclic. >> i appreciate that. any further information, that's important to have to inform how we respond to this. i was in california in april of the mountains and was shocked to see the reservoirs what looked like

august levels in april with a should have been full. i was told the snowpack in the sierras was at 6% of normal. i thought i thought they said 60 percent. it was 94 percent down, which is just stunning. it seems it seems to me that one of the things -- and you have mentioned this. we really need to talk about conservation and efficiency measures, not necessarily conservation don't use but use more efficiently. low flow toilets, drip irrigation, toilets, drip irrigation, all of those kinds of techniques which are probably the lowest cost think you testified think you testified to this kamal all the alternatives, those tend to be the lowest cost per acre foot as opposed to reservoirs, desalinization, and other technology. >> absolutely one of the most efficient ways. it is

ways. it is the low hanging fruit particularly for municipalities, appliances, plumbing that they use. one area -- and in our waters my program that we have been investing and we have invested something like 416 million federal money. ..

>> >> talk to me about your farm and incentives for efficiency. >> because of regulatory climate we use the resources that we can based on cost of

production and use this as carefully as possible. we have a successful collaborative modernization that benefits all water users so is important not only to look at the large projects but to incentivized local efforts to working in collaboration with the bureau and the federal agencies to help them along to streamline the environmental requirements to have participation by the up private-sector real storage projects there is way to encourage other participation revere very proactive to use our water resources. >> talk about infrastructure to updates to around the country one of the areas that we forget is efficiency

or conservation is water systems leak how much water will lose because of aging infrastructure. >> the key for holding this hearing today while we in the west talk about drought issues that may have spurred this hearing we can all talk about water all day every day. regard this that'd parts of colorado is letting and we see that today to years ago we saw massive catastrophic flooding in colorado and they are sparse with drought in parts of the stage as well. looked at colorado over the next several years it is estimated with industrial use by a then colorado loss of 600,000 or 1 million

acre-feet of water talk about the future projected needs for the water supply otherwise we lose between 700,000 acres of farmland with urban water transport the -- transfers with what we need. we have done a good we obviously can all be better to look at the critical conservation approaches we have resulted through hard work of many people in 18% water savings per capita for water efficiency as a result of the water conservation rate. if we hit that median level level, every water storage project that we need to get that six and a

thousand, we're looking at a $15 billion infrastructure costs to develop the additional water by 2015. that is a significant cost if we build every water project under consideration and budget is under construction the acronym is i pp we are still between 500,000 excuse me 180,000res short by 2050. regardless of the issue of a drought that is severe and catastrophic the conversation on water is real. without it $50 billion of colorado alone to meet our needs buys 2050. with that bureau of reclamation, one of the

concerns is more flexibility to the reclamation to manage water i am concerned about that perhaps we need more flexibility at the state and local level. to think that additional flexibility would be preferable more controllable over other projects? >> the western governors have adopted a policy resolution with the chairman's permission never like to submit that for the record and it isn't static. about the state's water authority. >> also it has taken one doesn't years the army corps

of engineer project to receive the approvals needed to move forward and where the flooding is occurring we have another project started in 2004 that distort tens of thousands of water and we still don't have the necessary permits for the project is there something we could do from the permit point of view to store more water as we have the needed efforts? >> quoting from that resolution infrastructure planning should be coordinated streamlined and flexible to allow for timely decision making with the construction of needed infrastructure imbalance economic considerations to minimize the cost of compliance.

>> to increase water storage what we can do to become more water efficient and number three that federal/state local partnership whether that is funding or planning to major retaken vantage every opportunity we can and one other project i want to ask you about with jennifer cruz spends time with the department of interior we spoke at the arkansas valley conduit authorized under president kennedy and has received some funding but now we have hit the point where we need to move forward to figure out a different way but the funding issues need to be resolved so we can rand but this project to build this pipeline to provide clean and abundant water of the

arkansas valley. less specific actions to the bureau of reclamation would like to see at the local or state level for the conduit to go forward? >> before that question and i think overall it is the time of transition with respect to the arkansas valley conduit we need to let get a better in different funding model. to let get the permit actions to move forward to lay out the project and get it to the full design phase to invest the money necessary but now we are close to that transition point and what we have talked about is there a way to use state money with a

low-interest loan is that enough to get the project started? it is a critical important project it gives us time to let get other federal programs and might be used to contribute to the cost of the construction because as much as the administration has supported the importance of water resources issues with respect to several water supply projects 1.$5 billion behind an 30,400,000,000 more for the arkansas valley conduit. >> if there are particular actions when it comes to the arkansas valley conduit please contact my office we can share those with the local operators and managers. >> absolutely.

>> we have heard a lot from western senators today i know last night talking with my wife who lived in montana we checked on the four kids in the three dogs then what it does the array gage say ridges had a bunch of storms come through montana and may has been a pretty good month but the west is having a serious issue although what we see a montana is not as severe as california we still face the adverse snowpack and rain storms but they will not replace the summer snowpack runoff with the headwaters literally three-fourths of the misery or from where every grew up research reports from the flathead river basin that we're at 55% of ramose levels up in northwest

montana is 16% uplift normal levels of looking at june june 2nd what does this mean for fire season? montana has over 7 million federal acres better at high or very high risk of wild flower -- wildfire that is one of 4 acres in my home state in nearly 2 million hour most in need of some type of treatment because of the communities or critical watershed spur private is just informed the treatments were only conducted on 52000 acres in the last fiscal year so the current pace of treatment is unacceptable now a researcher at a significant fire season around the corner. our communities for access to recreation, all the

critical treasures are a real risk because of wildfire. talk about arizona was primarily for the purpose of watershed protection and a understand this city of phoenix said aside money for active force management the national force project lenders on a national forest and the purpose is to protect the watershed provide -- supply of water to expand on the risk? >> certainly. in arizona the increased settlement times less than 50 acres or 50 trees per acre. now there is over 1,000 trees per acre so they are choked and the fire risk is high. we burned about 85,000 in

the '90s about 230,000 acres and in the 2000's over 2 million acres have burned so it is going more slowly than we would like to go some of that is the environmental restrictions of the endangered species act maybe we can streamline those issues for california to transfer that to arizona to help with our issues and for his health. >> what impact on of watershed is a wild fire? >> after the wildfire, the erosion and runoff from soil into a the stream has day water quality problems mr. biddy and raises the treatment cost for those

cities and take the water out of those streams further downstream that is an issue and it also chokes our reservoir that will rapidly fill up and lose more of their capacity over long-term so we lose storage long-term as well. >> you mention in their resolution to western governors association have adopted this draws attention to the use of active force and reimplant management as a way to prevent wild fire to promote healthy landscapes. how was a healthy forest linking clean reliable water for communities? >> western governors understand these issues and we recognize those wildfires

and water supply impact one another we would certainly subscribe and beyond that asked for the ability or permission to answer more fully for the record. >> last for a deputy coroner your testimony talks about how the fire risk threatens public health and a variety of health for endangered species. what is the department doing to mitigate the risk? >> cop fall of various there is not sufficient funding with respect to hazards and reductions in what we try to do is expand the interest for those two could deal with that and restarted

though lost blood dash western watershed in cancer project because we had some situations where the of colorado springs utility had massive minutes cost after a fire because of the impact on the reservoir so reformed up partnership in montana with local entities to add money to do reduction right above critical water is starting to take off i was at an event last year in t traction so we are expanding upon the resources we also have a proposal in the president's budget with great support ready to get over the finish line. for fire suppression in that

we don't have to take it out. but to have stable budgeting where we can marry up fuel reduction with landscaper improvement to redress a species issue is and that is our goal with the budget proposal. >> the point to be filling the reservoir with good clean water and not sell its -- silts. >> that want to continue with the relationship with the endangered species to make decisions on supply and delivery is that equal to the federal government

statutory responsibility to protect the threatened species? with every your answer is i am curious to know why. >> it isn't not necessarily but it depends on a contractual link wages and the vast majority is the shortage clause and depending on the language that has been interpreted to say those contract it amounts even regulatory requirements but there are some contracts but that is not the case. >> as an example in the

central valley is in california all the discussion is about to provide for the delta smelt. in that situation is that the statutory requirement to protect the smelt's over rights the legal contract with the bureau? to make statutory requirements says manifestative legal requirements that we have to comply with. >> and as we try to gather the data is to better understand whether the delta smelt or with others of the environmental releases, how are we doing with our data

collection? did the collaboration that it is key throughout all agencies, are also collaborating to the data collection that is necessary for in these decisions as we talk about these environmental releases? >> chairman murkowski i recognize there are differing views but i think we're doing a much better job to collaborate to apply the biological opinion and i can give you several examples. from the u.s. fish and wildlife service from the delta smelt are very significant of how they affect water supply overtime

but they received a great amount of scientific review which always is not the case of all biological opinion is. there were subject to for independent reviews prior and subsequent they upheld them to be fundamentally and conceptually sound but having said that also raising issues about the alternatives that they're not as well grounded. we have engaged in the us program with water users to make incremental changes and how we apply those provided by the congress to install monitoring stations to measure the to avidity and read the fish are from

hiring levels and recently this past year to the statement that applies to the delta smelt that was critical because that was in the manner that would get close to that limitation that causes us to reach consults so we take a new data and we were convinced the scientific soundness to increase the statements and we could argue those changes but we are moving in the right direction with flexibility. so with a application of those biological opinions. >> from the western governors perspective are really doing enough?

and with that data that would be helpful? >> that is the key theme over the first year and as a move into years two and three i think that focus on data will sharpen. there is a lot of data out there putting it is poorly coordinated synthesizing and interpreted as a look forward we will explore ways that a stray weather related data and fax what is improved and sustained. >> the lot of headway with

the technology that allows us to conserve as mentioned by my senator with fellow flow toilets for the of load drip irrigation is incredibly impressive but goes to the point although expensive that these investments will be made for though long-term recognizing we're dealing with these issues for some time with considerable technology that is their. i mentioned the energy water nexus. it is my understanding in the energy producers world there has been a considerable technology that allows our producers in oklahoma to be managing

water more efficiently and in ways that catch a lot of people by surprise that they put more back into the system than what they're using. is this something your group has been looking to terms of best practices out there? >> absolutely but our job for a workshop series began in oklahoma where the governor hosted the first workshop to go very deep on energy production. a of a great deal of opportunities then energy producers have touse source suggests that clearwater consumption we have of a great deal of the possibilities utilities have

with the brackish water. by all means. >> i don't think this hearing is about the new normal of drought conditions to need new solutions so thank you for talking about some of those but with that specificity it of the basin project like the reservoir to build fish ladders is that a logical next up. >> i do see it as a logical next step before the comprehensive plan with the environmental issues.

it represents a very good strategy that seems to moving forward you cannot get a consensus on anything but the most you can get from the constituents. to be blunt there is always a question of the appropriate federal role in this strategy for state and local entities? he has stepped up to fund certificate amounts of the program when the planet is finalized. >> you are not an expert of the agricultural issues but will they see this one way or another with the emergency drought issues that people will come here to talk about crop losses and a crop damages and that

the level of investment with those improvements that saved 35,000 acre-feet it could be used for something else? >> isn't that about investing now rather than coming back later to ask for help? we mcfadyen say a good point we made that has way advocates for the of resources those that have continually gone to address those issues than day argument to be made with the up front investment, i do hope to head off those shortages and conflicts.

>> web like best about the cooperation is farmers and ranchers and fishermen, it is what the eric three capacity at this point in time or what are the key issues? though to come to the federal government to ask to be able to move faster to support these efforts to give more capabilities. isn't the department of interior job they are asking for billions of dollars of relief so little bit of prevention up front. >> you talk about seattle because the storage of

rainwater. can you elaborate? >> it is pretty a clear early on the snowpack was not accumulating because say the capacity for the winter snow pack in to maintain minimum strength flows from the projects. the nature of their management is that it quits and i am not sure the rules for the next year it seems in the state of the agricultural side, there is concern and a tough situation but what they talk about is next year we don't have that year-to-year series of droughts and what that means for carry over for the reservoir system if we are likely to see that.

lied about the costs investment issue? >> and thank you raise an interesting point and some people have proposed in the past that some of the cost of redo half the expertise that could help with that question. >> what about the storage your innovation and ideas that have been cooperation in the? >> there are a a lot of innovative rome -- innovative options provide

think sitting at this table many years ago using the river from though west think mike points out a lot of the questions on the best option comes down the fundamental question what is the role in the water supply. does congress want to take that on? federal taxpayer responsibility? but that is day policy a question. >> why wouldn't we follow that? she -- they are involved either way. >> with the information and change it where everything is becoming flatter it is one more example with collaboration on the ground for those who usually don't agree but i agree about the neck steps with the department aiding to help

those projects go forward with their authority but then they look for bottom down solutions that could take another 10 years this is the near normal for the next several years. >> ic that point you are making there is a lot of collaboration. >> with the results that you can get with the 35,000 acres, lets the air out so we can move more quickly on those projects to help these communities, and again i would think we would abbreviate from those in the past and for the reason of

the ongoing investments but it does make it clear there is an ongoing federal role to reflate with respect to the challenges that are upcoming so to recognize those resources and have to be as creative as possible to address that role because it is critical. >> so when you talk resources we will see this one way or another and it will come back. >> is a huge economic impact but this has been a good discussion and i think we should continue to get some information from our

national laboratories that is working on a the long term impact ole sit-in year projection as we help to alleviate the problems in the next short time period. thank you for that hearing. >> thank you to each of our redness is it is a good discussion and this clearly highlights why it is important we have a broader water bill initially the focus is on the california with the dire situation but it is clear that the legislation moving for word needs to be lesser. so some of that discussion will help as before delete that.

about the collaboration and need for flexibility and streamlining with permit issues and storage is a key consideration in. but the technology's to have greater efficiencies of your conservation it is critical but i clearly agree that to deal with the here and defend them all. we need to be looking long term. but senator keane was trying to have some historical context, is it a cyclical or a thousand years even to? but whether or not to define that going for word it needs to be as long term with our

vision as possible because it is the their normal going forward and we have a lot of work we're willing to take that up in the committee we appreciate the perspectives and with that we stand adjourned. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> the congressional correspondent for cbs news the amendments that senator mcconnell wanted failed today. what have been to? ltd. is remarkable he is the leader of the senate and the majority party very at all

the of the amendments he put forth and argued vigorously failed. and not by close margins but pretty comfortably. to impose some safeguards into a bill he does not support the freedom act that requires that an is say to stop collecting phone records of all americans to put them in the hands of the phone companies themselves with the length of the transition time between when the record stock being collected at the nsa and start from the phone companies from 12 months. and also of to make sure the director of national intelligence could sign off before it when operational. the senate said no and the house also said know that

they passed the freedom act they liked it the way it was. the white house said don't do it so he was sick and the minorities to make it past as half the bill -- pass it as it is in don't cages of the republicans said the same thing. that not only house republicans would not like the changes but if the senate can change it and i like one that i would like to have had then you have all whole new can of worms at a time portions of the page redact have already expired which nobody wanted and this programming is in limbo they want to get it done as quickly as possible. >> host: interesting 48 hours what is your take away? >> the republican party that

we typically think of as the defense hawks is currently enjoying a moment of privacy advocates the libertarian wing that says the government should stay out of your business is winning the debate people like mitch mcconnell, john cornyn to say the program is working and we are using the data to track terrorists to see if they're talking to and why would you fix something that isn't broken? you have a lot of democrats are arguing the government should not be holding onto all this information about americans who have done nothing wrong and if they want information they should get a warrant and go to the phone companies to get it that way.

>> host: you pointed out the dynamic between the senate republican leader with terse or sharp for critical some are very angry at senator paul. >> did is fascinating. i know you're talking about republicans but dick durbin had a good lie night want to be an extra in somebody else's television in a campaign commercial. they felt the way that paul was fund raising a was too transparent and they felt he was doing it for show especially the delays he imposed only meant to it went out on 48 hours and now what has he accomplished? and republicans felt he was selling them now to make the leader look bad.

when something goes wrong he has a dog his base and it is supposed to be close kentucky allies and mitch mcconnell had endorsed him. but even if he wasn't running for president he would have taken the stand. it is the issue that brought him to filibuster this is the issue he talks about. >> that he would always job at the chance with the message data collection program we he could benefit at this time because he's trying to raise money in a crowded field. >> did you talk to members of congress with the members of national security at risk during the last day and a half? >> not significantly.

according to the chairman richard byrd and knowledge the short term halts is not really a problem but just if they were shut down long-term debt would be difficult. because the metadata program the moving wiretap program for those zero are discarding multiple sold bonds are to wills but they are not used all the time but infrequently. is not is if they missed out of opportunities to utilize these programs but if they're not restored in a timely manner that is when you run into security problems civitan to be if

that six month mark he has promised a return to regular order with the assumption of the amendment process. has changed? to make are some successes he and some failures to create a more open a mental process for senators on both sides could introduce amendments to let the chips fall where they may. them he would go through regular order more often in. and in many cases he has held true to that and the senators feel more empowered as they have a hand with the legislation that is crafted and what it is passed. on the other hand, he is still wrangling up party that has something like five u.s. senators running for president who is all very eager to set themselves

apart to show they are not of washington though willing to go against official washington and. but mitch mcconnell is as official as you get. sometimes they will support him in unpredictable ways. in this case even his allies say it is a tactical error reading this to the very last minute on sunday afternoon you can almost predict the way the things would have gone down. that doesn't mean he had a lot of other options besides canceling the recess but he certainly gave him the opening he has been waiting for four years. >> covering for cbs news we will look for your reporting tonight and on line at cbs

news.com. thanks for being with us mr. leahy: mr. president, i thank the distinguished majority leader for his courtesy. i'll be very brief. we worked for two years across the is. >> mr. president we went to years of cross the aisle. >> we need to have border. the senate is in order. >> rework two years across the aisle i know how many meetings we have had bad now to pass the u.s. a freedom

act to send it to the president for a signature for much-needed reform for those phone records it will improve oversight to help restore america is privacy. i thought to protect the privacy from all americans to 1975 tour improve the establishment of a continued fight for the privacy. >> mr. president i will now proceed on my later time. >> without objection in the senate will be in order. >> year earlier this year i

observe that president obama national security policy has been noteworthy for a the consistent objections driving down conventional and nuclear forces and the striving from iraq and afghanistan to have those tools developed by the previous administration to wage a war of terror to place that greater reliance on international organizations that is the hallmark of the obama foreign policy. this isn't a surprise as the candidate who would end the war's with the war on terror the nation has a regrettable history to draw down forces

and capabilities after each conflict only to find ourselves ill-prepared for the next great struggle. the executive order signed the very first week in office that included the declaration that guantanamo would be closed within one year, without any plan what to do with its detainee's and executive orders with the detention and irrigation program. some of these detainees are now preparing to rejoin the taliban some are in the uruguay camped out in a park across from the american embassy.

and some are backlogged the battlefield and afghanistan, yemen and syria. and other hallmarks of the above a foreign policy. and last year the president announced all combat forces withdraw from afghanistan by the end of his term in office whether or not the taliban was successful to capture parts of afghanistan or whether or not see your leadership now the more permissive environment in the travel areas of pakistan and whether or not al qaeda has been completely driven from afghanistan. so i repeat the pattern is

clear the president has been a reluctant commander in chief and between those two bookends much has occurred that has undermined our national security. there was the failure to negotiate the status of forces agreement that has a residual military force to prevent the assault of the islamic states of syria. chided is aggressively spreading it spier of influence. as a threat to veto funding for the troops a down better equipment without a similar increase is. darr of threatening to the defense bill of this increase funding for the epa.

this will diminish our military's ability to respond to the very a threat that is facing us today and we all those that they are. al qaeda in the arabian peninsula has doggedly pursued tactics to circumvent all that we have done since september 11 to defend our country. so while the president has klong to campaign promises made 2008 the threat from al qaeda as metastasized around the world. in to use social media with the unscripted communications and encourage travel to though would be

caliphate and the times here at home. end in the long run it may present the greatest long-term threat to our homeland. with his tools are not overly inflexible but ill-timed so today the said it will vote on whether or not we should take one more tool away from those to defend this country every day. the ability of a trained analyst under exceedingly close supervision only with the approval of the foreign intelligence surveillance

court to create database of called data records based one reasonable particulate suspicion. no content, and no names, no listening to phone calls from law-abiding citizens. none of that is going on. we are talking about call data records. and these are the providers records which is not with the fourth amendment speaks to to the right of the people in their papers and effects. but these records will log to the phone company. let me remind the senate this standard for reasonable articulate suspicion is the terror suspect is associated

with that organization as determined by a court. nobody's civil liberties are being violated. so with that terrorist attack aided by those seeking to prosecute offers in the intelligence community to diminish those capabilities to put the nation further address. so the message of the intelligence community to give a playbook to al qaeda. . . the headline in the