Thomas Mott Osborne: “Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3209 is a bill I introduced to clarify the amount of acreage for which the North Loup Division is…”

“Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3209 is a bill I introduced to clarify the amount of acreage for which the North Loup Division is authorized under the Missouri River Basin Project. This bill provides for a technical correction by inserting the word ``approximately'' on the amount of acreage authorized under the project. Under current law, irrigators must cite the specific amount of irrigated acreage served under the North Loup project. Conflicting Federal and State statutes for reporting irrigable service areas, conversion of irrigated ground to right-of-ways, land conservation programs and habitat easements are causing ever-changing and misunderstood adjustments to irrigated acreage. This bill allows for more flexibility in determining the amount of irrigated acreage. This is not a new concept and would bring consistency to the act, as well as to contracts between the irrigation districts and the United States. I urge my colleagues to support this noncontroversial bill.”