Ranking Member Johnson's Statement on H.R. 5826 and H.R. 5827
Extension of remarks Friday, May 18, 2012 by Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas
Introduction of Clean Water Research Bills
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to describe two bills I am introducing regarding clean water research – H.R. 5826, The Coordinating Water Research for a Clean Water Future Act of 2012, and H.R. 5827 the Energy and Water Research Integration Act of 2012. These two bills will help focus the federal government’s research efforts on clean water, a critical natural resource that we too often take for granted.
As a Representative from the great state of Texas, I know how important water is to public health, the economy, and the environment. Moreover, Texans certainly are not alone. Whether facing unpredictable and extreme weather conditions in places like Idaho where increasingly difficult dam and reservoir management is making it harder to protect property and lives; the drawdown of aquifers in the Powder River Basin from coal-bed methane operations; or the billions of taxpayer dollars spent to upgrade water infrastructure in the East, water is an ever-present topic of dinner conversation and political tension across the country.
As of last week, in Texas alone more than a thousand community water systems were forced to limit water use in order to avoid shortages. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the 12-month period between October 2010 and September 2011 was the driest in Texas since 1895. The dry conditions have been so severe that large portions of the State are categorized as being in “an exceptional state of drought”, the worst condition on the Federal government’s drought monitor scale.
Throughout my career I have fought to ensure that future generations have access to clean water. My introduction of these two bills builds on the accomplishments of the former Chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Bart Gordon, who introduced similar legislation that moved through the House of Representatives in the 111th Congress.
The first bill, H.R. 5826, will authorize coordination of water research activities to ensure a future where clean water is abundant, affordable, and accessible for generations to come. To do this, the country needs to better coordinate federal research among agencies which oversee and protect this natural resource. The bill elevates the importance of ensuring clean and reliable water supplies through the implementation of a National Water Research and Development Initiative at the Office of Science and Technology Policy of the White House. The Initiative will improve the federal government's role in coordinating federal water research activities that identify, characterize, and address changes in U.S. clean water use, quality, supply, and demand.
H.R. 5826 is drafted based on a range of expert recommendations, including those from the 2004 National Research Council report, “Confronting the Nations’ Water Problems; the Role of Research,” and the 2007 Office of Science and Technology Policy report “A Strategy for Federal Science and Technology to Support Water Availability and Quality in the United States.”
The second bill, H.R. 5827, “The Energy and Water Research Integration Act” focuses attention on the energy-water nexus, a term used to describe the energy required to provide reliable water supplies and the water required to provide reliable energy supplies. The bill directs the Secretary of Energy to integrate water considerations into the Department of Energy's energy research. The bill requires the Secretary to seek to advance energy technologies and practices that would minimize freshwater withdrawal and consumption, increase water use efficiency, and utilize nontraditional water sources with efforts to improve water quality.
H.R. 5827 is based on hearings held in the 110th and 111th Congress when the Science and Technology Committee reviewed federal research related to water, with particular attention on the energy-water nexus. At the request of the Committee, the Government Accountability Office conducted five studies on the energy-water nexus. As GAO has aptly pointed out in its reports on this issue, energy and water are two critical resources that are intrinsically and reciprocally linked. For example, the energy sector is the fastest-growing consumer of water right now and will account for 85% of the growth in domestic water consumption in the United States between 2005 and 2030. The GAO’s reports showed that very substantial quantities of water are needed to produce energy from a wide range of resources, such as for cooling thermoelectric power plants, growing and converting feedstocks into biofuels; and extracting oil shale and natural gas. GAO’s work also demonstrated that the development of oil and gas sources often results in the production of large volumes of wastewater that must be managed or treated. Furthermore, GAO’s work has also shown that significant amounts of energy are needed to extract, transport, treat, and use water in urban environments.
In many ways, these seminal reports confirmed what we already knew, and that is that water availability and quality are essential for public health and a strong economy, but demands for, and threats to, these resources are growing. We can no longer afford to take it for granted. Whether it is billions of dollars in lost revenue for our agricultural sector, or reduced electric reliability due to low cooling water supplies for power plants, the country is already feeling the impacts of reduced water availability and quality.
That is why communities and businesses across the country want to see more water research and better coordination. The bills are supported by small businesses like NanoH2O, who see the need for innovative technologies in the water sector, as well as national organizations like Alliance for Water Efficiency, the Water Innovation Alliance, the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), and the Water Research Foundation. The Water Environment Research Foundation also supports the Energy and Water Research Integration Act.
Given this diverse base of support and the passage of similar bills through the House in the 111th Congress, I hope that the Science, Space, and Technology Committee and the House will be quick to take up these pieces of legislation and move them expeditiously.
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