Regional
(2010-02-01)
DENVER, CO
(KUNC) -
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is asking Congress to approve millions of dollars to tackle water and other climate change related problems in the West. Specifically, as part of President Obama's budget, the Interior Secretary is requesting $30 million for climate change mitigation programs and $9 million for so-called Water Smart projects across the West. Secretary Salazar says those will fund basin studies and future reservoirs and other storage plans.
At a news conference in Washington, the former Colorado senator noted that climate change is expected to drastically reduce water levels in the Colorado River Basin.
"That sharp reduction in available water will resurect the water wars of the past between states over the competing uses of an already limited and already overstressed water supply in the southwestern part of our country," Salazar said.
Salazar says his agency plans to pay for these funding increases, by implementing cost savings measures in certain departments, which he says will cut hundreds of millions of dollars in government waste. The budget now goes to Congress for scrutiny
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