House Overrides Water Resources Bill

Press Release

House Overrides Water Resources Bill

Congressman Adrian Smith (R-NE) - a member of the House Agriculture Committee - today voted to override President Bush's veto of the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). The measure passed by a vote of 361 - 54.

"The bill we voted on today covers 10 years' worth of water-related investments across the country, ranging from levees to wetlands restoration. These improvements are vital to Nebraska's Third District and our entire state," Smith said.

The House of Representatives passed WRDA on August 1 by a vote of 381-40, while the Senate passed the bill 81-12.

The measure would authorize $11.2 billion between 2008 and 2012 and an additional $12 billion for 10 more years, for a total of $23.2 billion. As this is an authorization, not an appropriations bill, funds will be allocated each year through the federal budget process, allowing Congress and the President to refine spending in future years.

The following investments for Nebraska were included:

* Construction of new 1,200 foot locks - Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. Calls for doubling the size of locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers, allowing agriculture producers to move their product efficiently to export markets;
* Lower Platte River Watershed Restoration - Nebraska. Directs the Secretary of the Interior to provide assistance to the Lower Platte river natural resources districts with respect to conducting comprehensive watershed planning and providing project feasibility planning, design, and construction assistance for water resource and watershed management; and
* Republican River Basin Restoration and Drought Mitigation - Nebraska, Kansas, and Colorado. Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to carry out a project for aquatic nuisance plant control in the Republican River Basin.

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