mr. hollin. >> thank you for the question senator. at salt river project, there is a biomass plant that we actually buy half of the power at that facility. and one of the challenges as chief tidwell mentioned was the fact of to ensure that you have material at that plant. so we don't need any undue delays to ensure that there is material available at the biomass plant. i think secondly there is another added value benefit by going in and thinning these forests, there is essentially an avoided release of car upon. when you have these catastrophic wildfires, there is a major release of car onebon into the air. >> release it as energy that we use for electricity rather than just go up into the atmosphere. >> yes. >> thank you madame chair. i really want to continue -- every time you testify, i bring this a little bit further. but i really want to keep exploring that especially with the chair. >> thank you for the testimony. nice to have a couple of arizonians here. bruce, good to see you. we've talked on a number of occasions. i apprecia

mr. helen. welcome to the committee. >> members respect thank you, thank you for the opportunity to testify. my name is bruce hollin. for over 100 years, salt river project has provided a reliable water supply to metropolitan fee thiks phoenix. srp rating 7 dams, 1300 miles of canals and numerous ground water wells. we're also fend ebtdependent on the health of a 13,000 mile watershed and protecting these head waters has been a priority. around the turn of the 20th century, watershed protection efforts focused on ensuring development in timber harvests were woreconducted in a way that reserved water supply. today it's causing catastrophic water fires that threaten the sustain ability and quality of tricking water for millions of arizona. this situation is not unique to arizona. we're working closely with the national water resources association and others who are facing similar threats to their head waters. catastrophic fire has severe and long term impacts to watersheds which are felt far beyond the area directly impacted by the fire. en like theunlike the low intensity fire seen in healthy forests the aftermath we