Water & Power Subcommittee Legislative Hearing

May 25, 2022
03:00 PM
366 Dirksen Senate Office Building

The hearing will be held on Wednesday, May 25, 2022, at 3:00 pm in Room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.

The purpose of this hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills:

  • S. 737, to establish a federal cost share percentage for the Milk River Project in the State of Montana (Tester/Daines);  
  • S. 953, to provide for drought preparedness and improved water supply reliability (Wyden);
  • S. 1179, to provide financial assistance for projects to address certain subsidence impacts in the State of California, and for other purposes (Feinstein); 
  • S. 1554, to make certain irrigation districts eligible for Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program pumping power, and for other purposes (Cramer);
  • S. 2334, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a grant program to provide grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities for large-scale water recycling and reuse projects, to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to make certain modifications to the Cooperative Watershed Management Program, and to provide emergency drought funding, and for other purposes (Cortez Masto); 
  • S. 2693, to amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 to authorize additional projects related to the Salton Sea, and for other purposes (Padilla);
  • S. 3450, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to construct, operate, and maintain facilities in the Sun River project, Montana, for the purpose of hydroelectric power generation (Daines/Tester);
  • S. 3539, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to carry out watershed pilots, and for other purposes (Wyden);
  • H.R. 5001 and S. 3693, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to continue to implement endangered fish recovery programs for the Upper Colorado and San Juan River Basins, and for other purposes (Hickenlooper/Romney);
  • S. 3971, to amend the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 to modify a provision relating to cost-sharing requirements applicable to certain Bureau of Reclamation dams and dikes, and for other purposes (Inhofe);
  • S. 4175, to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to authorize certain extraordinary operation and maintenance work for urban canals of concern (Risch);
  • S. 4176, to amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to modify the eligibility requirements for certain small water storage and groundwater storage projects and to authorize the use of funds for certain additional Carey Act projects (Risch);
  • S. 4231, to support water infrastructure in Reclamation states, and for other purposes (Feinstein);
  • S. 4232, to address the recovery of certain costs with respect to certain Reclamation facilities in the Colorado River Basin, and for other purposes (Kelly);
  • S. 4233, to amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to provide for critical maintenance and repair of certain Bureau of Reclamation reserved or transferred works, and for other purposes (Barrasso); and
  • S. 4236, to provide for a national water data framework, to provide for the water security of the Rio Grande Basin, to reauthorize irrigation infrastructure grants, and for other purposes. (Heinrich/Lujan).

The committee will follow guidelines developed in consultation with the Office of the Attending Physician and the Senate Rules Committee to protect the health of members, staff, and the public.

The hearing will be webcast live on the committee’s website, and an archived video will be available shortly after the business meeting concludes.

Archived Webcast

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Opening Remarks

  • Senator Ron Wyden

    Subcommittee Chair
  • Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith

    Subcommittee Ranking Member

Witness Panel 1

  • The Honorable Jon Tester

    United States Senator (D-MT)
  • The Honorable Dianne Feinstein

    United States Senator (D-CA)
  • The Honorable Alex Padilla

    United States Senator (D-CA)

Witness Panel 2

  • The Honorable Camille C. Touton

    Commissioner of Reclamation
    Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior