Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Reauthorization of the Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act of 2000, also referred to as FRIMA. This Act was established to support healthy fish populations while simultaneously allowing for continued water diversions for irrigation and other uses in the Pacific Northwest. I championed this program's last reauthorization in 2009, and I can say with certainty that the pressing need for FRIMA has not gone away.

Throughout the Pacific Northwest there is a critical need for projects that improve fish passage without compromising important water diversion needs for agriculture and other uses. The sustainable coexistence of continued water diversions and healthy fish populations can be achieved through a number of interventions, such as installation of fish screens, removal of fish passage barriers, and carrying out inventories to better understand needs and priorities. The technology and the knowledge needed to carry out these projects are at our finger tips; the means, however, is not.

That is why FRIMA is such an important program for the Pacific Northwest. The act, overseen by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, provides a Federal cost-share on the order of 65 percent to fund fish passage and fish screen projects at water diversion and irrigation sites in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and western Montana. This voluntary cost-shared program authorizes $25 million in Federal funds, to be equally shared among the 4 States, that can be leveraged to make these essential projects to improve fish passage and install fish screens come to fruition.

FRIMA has a history of demonstrated success in Oregon and throughout the Pacific Northwest. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 127 projects have been funded through FRIMA to date. These projects have reopened more than 1,130 miles of habitat to fish passage. In total, 56 fish passage barriers have been removed, 130 water diversion sites have been screened, and 18 fish passage evaluations have been completed. This program has led to multiple accomplishments for communities in the Pacific Northwest, but there are still tens of thousands of unscreened water diversions in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and western Montana. There is still work to be done, and FRIMA could provide the means to continue to make a difference for sustainable fisheries and water management.

At its core, FRIMA is centered on the concept of collaboration. This is a program borne through bi-partisan and multi-sectoral support. FRIMA is embraced by water users, farmers, fisheries managers and conservation organizations alike. The economic and ecological integrity of our region depends on resilient fisheries and sustainable management of water resources, and FRIMA offers a means to concurrently make positive strides in sustainably managing both our water diversions and our treasured fishery resources.

2886

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. REAUTHORIZATION OF THE FISHERIES RESTORATION AND IRRIGATION MITIGATION ACT OF 2000.

Section 10(a) of the Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation Mitigation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 777 note; Public Law 106- 502) is amended by striking ``2009 through 2015'' and inserting `` 2017 through 2024''. ______

By Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. Leahy):

S. 2893. A bill to reauthorize the sound recording and film preservation programs of the Library of Congress, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Rules and Administration.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source