Tom Udall: “as a cosponsor of H.R. 2707, I am extremely pleased that this bill is on the floor of the House today. I would like to…”

“as a cosponsor of H.R. 2707, I am extremely pleased that this bill is on the floor of the House today. I would like to thank my colleague from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) for introducing this important legislation and for his leadership on this issue. I would also like to thank the gentleman from American Samoa for his hard work and his leadership in bringing this to the floor today. Mr. Speaker, those of us from the West are all too familiar with the water troubles that our communities are facing. Many of us are trying to find commonsense approaches to sustainable water management. This legislation is an important step in that direction. H.R. 2707 authorizes funds for demonstration projects on the Pecos and Rio Grande rivers to find the most efficient way to eliminate the invasive Salt Cedar species. The legislation authorizes up to $7 million per trial for the Army Corps of Engineers to begin examining the most effective methods to remove the Salt Cedar. The invasive Salt Cedar species is very damaging to water efficiency, has no natural enemies such as insects and diseases, and has a ravenous thirst. A large tree can soak up as much as 200 gallons of water per day. Removing the Salt Cedar alone will not be a panacea for our water troubles, but will certainly go a long way towards improving our water efficiency.”