WASHINGTON, DC - The nation’s House and Senate has now officially reached bipartisan support of the massive FY17 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which addresses, among several important national water issues, California’s drought. The bill includes provisions that would see an overhaul of the state’s water infrastructure, including more than half billion dollars for projects like desalination, water recycling, and groundwater recharge.

Upon the announcement of the newly found bipartisan support, Western Growers’ President and CEO Tom Nassif shared his support for the bill’s language in discussing the state’s drought, applauding those who pushed it forward.

“A wise proverb reads: ‘A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ For the last several years, rural communities and urban residents alike have been waiting for Congress to take the first step to restore more balanced operation of our water projects in the Delta,” Nassif shared in a release to the press. “We are pleased that leaders in the House and Senate appear ready to finally move us all forward with the introduction of negotiated drought language in the WRDA legislation.”

Among those Nassif named in his support of the bill were California Senator Feinstein, House Majority Leader McCarthy, and Congressmen Costa, Valadao, Nunes, Denham, and Calvert. 

“The product of three years of work, this legislation can lay the foundation for additional good work to be done in the next Congress,” he continued. “The timing of this agreement is critical. With several early storms already behind us, California is entering its rainy season and we cannot once again allow flawed policies to prevent reasonable diversion of runoff to storage.”

With WRDA currently expected to pass in both the House and Senate, AndNowUKnow will keep providing you with the latest updates as the bill moves through the floor, as well as how the produce industry may be affected.

Western Growers