Strong Western Water Bill Good for Wyoming Written by Reid Rosenthal on July 7, 2015 · Have a comment? Watch this week’s dose of common sense HERE. Strong Western Water Bill Good for Wyoming Dear Friends, This week I joined a coalition of my colleagues from California and throughout the West to cosponsor the Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015. This bill, introduced by Rep. David Valadao (R-CA), tackles some of the man made barriers to relieving the dire drought in California. For Wyoming and the west it streamlines water permitting, opens opportunities to increase water storage, and protects water rights. This legislation would enhance state and local ability to store and use water, beating back at some of the federal attempts to take control of this lifeblood of the American west. This bill: Sets up a “one-stop-shop” permitting office run by the Bureau of Reclamation to streamline processes that delay the construction of new or expanded surface water storage. Allows irrigators to pre-pay what they owe in capital repayments to the Bureau of Reclamation. Under current law, 2/3rd of irrigators are kept from paying off the federal government early. Allows the Bureau of Reclamation to increase storage capacity when studying and carrying out dam safety measures. This would allow new construction, albeit on a limited basis, to take place without congressional authorization. Prevents federal agencies from requiring citizens and entities to relinquish their state endowed water rights as a condition to use public lands. Please share any thoughts or concerns you have on this or other issues. Sincerely, This mailbox is unattended. To respond please click here or go to:http://lummis.house.gov/contact/ Join the conversation! Stay connected to me through , , and I look forward to hearing from you soon!