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Show 6 drought?" And " How can we improve efficiency of water delivery and water use?" I do want to thank the Science Committee, particularly my two colleagues from two very wet Congressional Districts- Ms. Woolsey and Mr. Baird- for agreeing to come to Salt Lake City when the winter snow is gone- sooner than anyone is comfortable with. And I also want to thank my colleague, Congressman Chris Cannon, for agreeing to chair this hearing. Drought is not a partisan issue and the entire Utah delegation will get together to raise awareness about the conditions we face in the West. And I also would like to thank our witnesses. We have world- class experts on weather prediction and drought planning right here in Utah. Home- grown doesn't preclude world- renowned. Dr. Hayes, from Nebraska, is our one visitor and he comes with a distinguished record of work on drought risk mitigation planning. We should do more, through the information gathered today, than just try to mitigate drought. Science can help us understand the terms set out by an arid land. But it is up to us to bring human innovation and technology to the challenge of living, and growing, within this desert environment. [ The prepared statement of Mr. Matheson follows:] PREPARED STATEMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE JIM MATHESON Welcome To Utah- the second- driest state in America. A decade ago, Wallace Stegner- standing on the banks of the Colorado River which is the lifeblood of four western states, said: " Living in a desert calls, I think, for a certain humility. It does call for adaptation to the terms the country enforces." Multiple years of drought are the reason we convene this hearing. We can't fool Mother Nature. In country that gets less than 20 inches of rain in a normal year, anything less can spell disaster. The people of Utah have always understood- much more clearly than the Federal Government- the scarcity and importance of water. In 1847, Mormon Church leader Brigham Young reached the Salt Lake Valley. Almost immediately, he put the pioneer families to work, building irrigation systems, diverting streams and taking steps to protect canyon watersheds as the source of drinking water. No group of citizens ever worked harder to ensure that the land and the settlement would survive. That accomplishment was noted and admired in the work of U. S. government geologist and explorer John Wesley Powell. Powell spent seven years writing his 1876 " Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States- with a More Detailed Account of the Lands of Utah." The West was big. It was diverse. It had towering peaks, deep gorges, shimmering salt flats and erupting geysers. But it had one overriding unity- the unity of drought. Powell's running of the Colorado River made him a hero. He offered federal leaders a blueprint for Western expansion based on good science. But he was largely ignored. Congress passed laws encouraging settlement in the West that mimicked the settlement of the East. But the West was, is and always will be the land of little rain. If the West is leading the way in planning for limited water resources, the East, South and Midwest are not far behind. Today, as drought- stricken forests burn in New Jersey, California, Utah and Colorado, there are concerns about how to manage with historically low levels of moisture as we head into summer. I want to stress what this hearing is and what it is not. It is not a solution to the drought. What it is. . . is a start at getting us thinking and strategizing " outside the box" with respect to drought issues and the Science Committee is the natural venue for that. While drought aid is important, it does not get to the heart of the matters. Using good science and scientific analysis we need to answer questions such as: How can we do a better job predicting drought cycles? What actions can we take to prepare for drought? How can we improve efficiency of water delivery and water use? I want to thank the Science Committee, particularly my colleagues from two very wet Congressional Districts- Ms. Woolsey and Mr. Baird- for agreeing to come to |
