Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman today said he is pleased that the Obama administration is making water projects and public lands initiatives in New Mexico a priority in his 2012 budget proposal. Congress will use this budget proposal as a blueprint when it develops the spending bills that will fund the federal government next year.

The 2012 budget unveiled today includes $30.8 million for the Navajo water settlement Bingaman helped authorize in the last Congress. Of that amount, $24.8 million would be used for Navajo-Gallup pipeline design; $6 million would be put in the Navajo trust fund that will help pay for water-related projects. This funding is in addition to the $180 million Bingaman helped secured last year for pipeline construction.

The bill also contains $12.75 million for the Animas-La Plata project, which includes funding for construction of the Navajo Nation Municipal Pipeline in New Mexico. The budget also includes $4 million for the Taos Indian Water Rights Settlement and $9.4 million for the Aamodt Water Settlement in the Pojoaque Valley. Both of those settlements were authorized through the Claims Resolution Act of 2010 which included $ 147.8 million in funding Bingaman helped to secure.

"The funding the Obama administration set aside for the Navajo-Gallup pipeline and the Aamodt and Taos settlements is an indication that the administration is committed to ensuring those settlements are completed.   After years of working to settle these long-standing water rights cases, we are off to a good start in getting the funding needed to get these important projects under way," Bingaman said.

The budget proposal includes $23.6 million for the Middle Rio Grande for operations, maintenance, and rehabilitation of project facilities, river maintenance, and for efforts focused on the protection and recovery of the Rio Grande silvery minnow and southwestern willow flycatcher. The budget also includes $10 million for Rio Grande floodway work below San Acacia.

Additionally, the Bureau of Reclamation's budget request includes $250,000 in funding for the Rio Grande Pueblo infrastructure rehabilitation – an initiative Bingaman got enacted into law in 2009 that gives the Bureau of Reclamation the authority to work with New Mexico's Rio Grande Pueblos to assess irrigation infrastructure needs and initiate projects to rehabilitate and repair the infrastructure.

Bingaman said he is disappointed that a water project in eastern New Mexico authorized in a 2009 law he wrote did not receive funding in the president's proposal.  While the administration has favorably reviewed the engineering design for the project and has completed the necessary environmental reviews, funding is needed to construct a pipeline to bring water from Ute Reservoir to eastern New Mexico communities.

"Unfortunately, this year's call for fiscal restraint means there will be projects in New Mexico and around the country that will left behind. I am disappointed that the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Project is one of them. I will continue to push for funding for this important initiative, but it will be difficult to secure funding this year in light of the current ban on seeking earmarked funds for such projects," Bingaman said.

Bingaman said he is pleased that the Obama Administration is funding initiatives to implement the SECURE Water Act – legislation Bingaman wrote to improve water management and increase the acquisition and analysis of water-related data to better understand critical water resources, particularly in arid parts of the country. The administration has set aside $18.5 million for Water SMART grants that pay for water conservation initiatives, $6 million for basin studies, $29 million for BOR water reuse programs and $10.9 million for U.S. Geological Service's (USGS) programs. The budget requests for Reclamation and USGS also include over $100 million for climate change adaptation measures.

In the area of public lands, Bingaman said he is pleased the Obama administration's proposal invests in the following New Mexico public lands initiatives:

• $8.8 million to replace the old and unsafe lighting and electrical system in Carlsbad Caverns National Park;
• $3.5 million for operations at the Valles Caldera National Preserve;
• $3.4 million to purchase the 5,000-acre Miranda Canyon property adjacent to the Carson National Forest in Taos County;
• $1 million to purchase 60 acres along the Río Grande National Wild & Scenic River in Northern New Mexico to provide more recreational access to the public;
• $806,000 to purchase 9 acres within the Pecos National Historical Park to protect important cultural resources;
• $128,000 to install a renewable energy system at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lake Valley Historic Townsite in Sierra County;
• $128,000 to install an alternative energy system at the BLM Three Rivers Petroglyph Site in Otero County.

The Obama budget request contains $27.8 million in funding for key environmental protection initiatives. The following initiatives are proposed through the Environmental Protection Agency:

Water

• $1.9 million to address pollution.
• $1.5 million to water pollution control.
• $1.1 million in Public Water Systems Supervision funding to help monitor drinking water quality and enforce health standards.
• $7.5 million in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to provide low interest loans to help finance wastewater treatment facilities and other water quality projects.
• $9.7 million in the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to provide low-interest loans to municipalities to build, improve, and prevent pollution in drinking water systems.

Air

• $4.2 million in Air Pollution Control Program grants to assist in attaining new air quality standards.

Hazardous Waste

• $1 million in Resource Conservation and Recovery Act funding to manage the generation, transportation, and disposal of hazardous waste.

Finally, the administration sets aside $16 million in the U.S. Department of Agriculture budget for tribal water and wastewater projects and $800,000 for technical assistance for rural water systems that serve tribal communities.