Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

U.S. SENATOR Jeff Bingaman

Monday, February 1, 2010

Contact Senator Bingaman's Office:

Jude McCartin
Maria Najera
703 Hart Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-5521

Bingaman: President's 2011 Budget Proposal Supports New Mexico's Water, Public Lands & EPA Projects

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 2011 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 2011 budget unveiled today includes $16 million for the Navajo water settlement Bingaman helped authorize last year.  Of that amount, $10 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.   The bill also contains $12.134 million for the Animas-La Plata project, which includes construction of the Navajo Nation Municipal Pipeline in New Mexico.

"The funding the Obama administration set aside for the Navajo-Gallup pipeline is heartening.  After years of working to settle the long-standing water rights claim in the region, we are already off to a good start in getting this important pipeline project under way," Bingaman said.

The budget proposal includes $25 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, funding from the Native American Affairs Program -- $7.4 million -- is anticipated to be used toward Rio Grande Pueblo infrastructure rehabilitation – a new initiative Bingaman got enacted into law last year giving the Bureau of Reclamation the authority to work with any of New Mexico's tribes to assess pueblo irrigation infrastructure and initiate projects to rehabilitate and repair the infrastructure as needed.

Bingaman said he is disappointed that a water project in eastern New Mexico pipeline construction authorized in a 2009 law he wrote would not receive funding.   Bingaman said he will work to secure $1 million for the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Authority's use to construct a pipeline to bring water from Ute Reservoir to eastern New Mexico.

"I understand and respect the Obama administration's desire to use fiscal restraint this year.  But it's clear that the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Project is a worthy investment.  I am confident that -- working with the administration -- we can secure the funding needed for this important initiative," Bingaman said.

Bingaman said he is very pleased that the Obama Administration is funding initiatives to implement the SECURE Water Act – legislation Bingaman wrote into law last year 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 $27 million for Water SMART grants that pay for water conservation initiatives, $3 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 $80 million for climate change "adaptation" measures.

In the area of public lands, Bingaman said he is pleased the Obama Administration proposal supports public lands, including:

• $1.75 million to acquire 7,440 acres within the Lesser Prairie Chicken Habitat Conservation Area of Critical Environmental Concern in Chaves County;
• $1.17 million to acquire 188 acres within the Pecos National Historical Park.

The budget also invests in other New Mexico public lands, but that level of detail is not available until the administration testifies about the Interior and Forest Service budgets later this month.

The Obama budget blueprint contains funding for key environmental protection initiatives.  The following initiatives are proposed through the Environmental Protection Agency:

Water

• $ 2.4 million to address pollution.
• $ 1.6 million to water pollution control.
• $ 1.1 million in Public Water Systems Supervision funding to help monitor drinking water quality and enforce health standards.
• $ 9.6 million in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to provide low interest loans to help finance wastewater treatment facilities and other water quality projects.
• $ 12.6 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

• $ 2.6 million in Air Pollution Control Program grants to assist in attaining new air quality standards.

Hazardous Waste

• $1.0 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.