House Passes Drought Research Legislation
(Washington, DC) – Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2431, the National Integrated Drought Information Systems Reauthorization Act. The bill passed 365-21 with 45 members not voting.
H.R. 2431 reauthorized the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). The NIDIS Act, signed into law in 2006, is a collaborative effort between numerous federal agencies and several state governments to provide a dynamic and accessible drought-risk information system. NIDIS was created in response to extended drought conditions and is led and implemented by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NIDIS has provided a better understanding of how and why droughts affect society, the economy, and the environment, and is improving accessibility, dissemination, and use of early warning information for drought risk management by a variety of stakeholders ranging from farmers to city planners. NIDIS incorporates the efforts of numerous federal agencies, tribal nations, emergency managers and planners, six Regional Climate Centers, state climatologists, local NOAA Weather Forecast Offices, and Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (RISA).
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) said in her floor statement, “I rise in support of H.R. 2431, the National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2013. This vital program was originated by my friend and former Committee Chairman Ralph Hall in 2006. The program provides critical drought information to communities all across our Nation.
“Over the past three decades it is estimated that droughts have cost our country hundreds of billions of dollars in economic impacts. Loss estimates from the 2012 drought alone run upwards of 70 billion dollars. Moreover, the effects of climate change are anticipated to exacerbate this problem in many parts of our country, including in my home state of Texas. Right now, California is experiencing its driest period in recorded history with 67 percent of the state experiencing extreme or exceptional drought conditions.
“We all know that farmers and ranchers bear the brunt of these dry conditions. That hits the pocketbook of every American as food prices go up. But the damage is not limited to agriculture. For instance, in the West, conditions are again ripe for extreme wildfires that scarred more than 9 million acres last year putting homes and property in jeopardy. Tourism is suffering as water levels in lakes and rivers plummet and snow packs languish, leaving boats on dry land and skis in the attic; communities are imposing water restrictions; and power plant and grid operators are taking a serious look at emergency plans should water for cooling towers and hydroelectric dams fall short.
“If you look at the top five most expensive disasters in the United States since 1980, three of those are due to drought. The NIDIS program is intended to help alleviate some of the economic impacts of drought.
“Notably, one of the program’s goals is to improve drought early warning. Advanced warning of impending droughts would allow states, localities, and farmers to better plan their activities so that the economic costs associated with droughts could be reduced or mitigated.
“In light of the scope of the economic impacts of drought, and the potential of the NIDIS program to lessen these impacts, I remain concerned about the authorization levels in H.R. 2431. My Democratic colleagues and I tried to modestly increase the authorization levels, during Committee consideration of the bill, but we were unsuccessful.
“Every witness who has ever testified or spoken to our Committee about this program has highlighted the need to improve the program’s early warning capability. This isn’t a goal that can be accomplished for free. It will take a sustained investment of additional funds to achieve the results we so desperately need.
“While I wish the authorization numbers in the bill before us today were higher, they are much better than the numbers in the Senate bill which locks the program into a funding cap that is below current spending for the next five years.
“When the Federal government is spending tens of billions of dollars per year to mitigate the effects of drought, I think it makes sense to spend a couple million extra dollars to try and reduce those massive costs to our taxpayers and our communities. It’s pretty clear that in this instance an ounce of prevention will get us a pound of cure.
“In spite of these concerns, I support H.R. 2431 and the reauthorization of NIDIS, a program which provides crucial information to help our farmers and our communities prepare for and mitigate the impacts of drought.”
View H.R. 2431 here.
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