Many states across the u. S. Have been dealing with drought this summer. To up states deal with the droughts the Senate Energy and Natural ResourcesCommittee Held a hearing focusing on drop trap preparedness and Water Management. Ge Water Technology division and state water agencies gave lawmakers the recommendations for increasing Water Supplies. This hearing is little more than one hour. [inaudible conversations] this hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources a committee on water and power will come to order. The purpose of todays hearing is receive testimony on water supply and drought issues. We will hear testimony on a range of water related topics including infrastructure and supply, certainty in planning, and innovative Management Practices that are critical to maintaining secure Water Supplies. This includes items that are crucial to arizona such as the Colorado River drought planning and watershed restoration, better use of existing reservoirs, reliable water supply and drought protection cannot be achieved without Storage Infrastructure and forward thinking management and planning. Oftentimes discussion i want a policy the federal level are dictated by costs however its important that Congress Considers the various local Community Space as they plant and pursue new Water Projects. I look for todays hearing to hear how state and local policies encourage judicious water use and how permit streamlining and regulatory predictability can ensure all solutions are on the table. We will also about innovations in Water Treatment technology and project financing that can help with Water Infrastructure and supply challenges. We live in an age as we know you expect when you turn on the tap that theres water there. That the water will always be there which means supply certainty is critical for managers. Protecting the sanctity of state waters rights, resolving conflicts and collaborative planning as we will see today help ensure water certainty. As weve seen in arizona, providing the certainly can also find least private investment innovative partnerships that improve Water Management. Finally changes to operation and management of existing infrastructure can be Cost Effective water strategy as well. Im glad the Committee Water from several Witnesses Today who can speak to the importance of using the most uptodate hydrology and forecasts and operating the existing reservoirs. I think we can learn from this testament and the last years drought legislation to try to address critical water needs for arizona emanation. Water managers on the ground of great ideas about how to increase water supply and drought resistant. I look for to working with them on these efforts. In addition to the expert will hear from today, weve received a number of written statements for the hearing record, and i will be considering that input as we move forward as well. As senator franken and i were talking just a bit ago, this is an important issue for arizona. I noted that for all of my life whenever it rains, no matter where i was living when id see rain, id had the instinct to call my dad because as an old rancher, that was when he was in a good mood. Our favorite time as the family was taught in the truck as a good rain in to see which it draws were running, to see which stock tanks with phil. That was our version of excitement in snowflake arizona. But anyway, im glad were having this hearing. Im glad to Ranking Member kaine from maine and turn to him for his opening statement. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you to our witnesses for joining us this morning, especially my constituent from maine, welcome to washington at this time of year. Like me you would probably rather be in maine on a day in august. As the chairman mentioned will hear from a range of points of you this morning on different approaches to maintaining the crucial healthy water supply. Even in maine w were not immune to the impacts of a fragile water supply during, due to drought conditions. We recently had our first drought in 14 years which impacted 70 of our state and every significant percentage of our states residents, i think its almost half, depends upon wells for their water. And best drought finally ended this past april but it was a very serious matter for us. I understand my colleagues in the west probably are not very sympathetic to hearing about droughts in new england but they do occur. All regions of the country have these serious issues. Im looking forward to hearing about the different approaches that have been developed in other parts of the country. The critical nature of Water Management across the country has stimulated a variety of approaches to planning and financing. For example, will hear from martha shields Martha Sheils in regard to importance of Green Infrastructure improvements on the water supply. Im also looking forward to how we can promote publicprivate partnerships in Water Infrastructure projects and use the lessons in other areas were Infrastructure Improvements are, in fact, desperately need. Will also hear about the value of planning and flexibility that we can provide an Water Management help innovations in water use technology can make Water Management more effective. While we have different specific water concerns around the country, and needs to be in a pond where are, we can take lessons from these folks have joined us this morning to think differently and use more creative approaches to Water Management. Publicprivate partnerships, innovative infrastructure, technology solutions. So mr. Chairman, thank you for calling this hearing. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses with their testimony. Thank you. Well turn to the Witnesses Today. Thank you for joining us today. I will begin the panel with mr. Thomas buschatzke, director of Arizona Department of Water Resources. I greatly appreciate a close working relationship we have had over the years and all that you done for the state of arizona on critical water issues. Youve been an important water leader for the state and we always look fo forward to having you testify here before the senate. Next we will have shirlee zane, chairman of the board of the Sonoma County water agency. Then Martha Sheils as mentioned project director for the new England Department of finance center. I must say that these hearings are typically western focused and so its nice to have a witness here who will talk about things going on in maine. Then well hear from heiner markhoff, president and ceo of ge water and process technology are finally water from mr. Carlos riva, ceo of Poseidon Water. They do offer the testimony you will provide. We would like to limit the remarks he began to five minutes to have time for questions and your full remarks will be submitted for the record. And with that we will recognize mr. Buschatzke. Thank you and good morning, chairman flake, Ranking Member king and members of the subcommittee. Im director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Thank you for providing me an opportunity to testify on behalf of the state of arizona. I have submitted written testimony for the record and my comments today will highlight key issues in the testimony. Arizona continuously develops and approves the Legal Framework, policy prescriptions, institutions and infrastructure needed to secure its Water Resources, create certainty and prepare for drought. The state prioritizes internal actions but collaborates with the federal government. Aggressive Water Management actions have resulted in the reduction in arizonas waters use while its population and economic output have increased. All while decreasing mind groundwater usage. For the past 20 years drought has been a constant in arizona. When shortage on the Colorado River is declared, about 84 of the of the total fault to arizona. This knowledge tries robust drought mitigation programs in the state. Now i want to share some examples of innovation Water Management actions in arizona. First, the Palo Verde Nuclear generating station contracted for reclaimed water for cooling purposes in 1973, long before reuse became a common practice. In 1986 and again in 1984, the landmark groundWater Management act was amended to incentivize underground storage of surface water. That Program Promotes the use of existing infrastructure to help reduce costs. With pending claims. So much work needs to be done. Turn into drought impacts of the Colorado River, major activities are ongoing. Over the past decade, it might unfold to healthy levels, even with the existing shortage criteria as reason to unacceptable levels. In response, arizona, nevada, california negotiated a draft contingency plan or dcp as it is commonly referred to. The dcp further incentivizes the river water and creates greater flexibility to recover some of that water. Under the dcp, arizona and nevada would take reductions at Higher Elevations than for the first time california would take reductions to help protect critical elevations. Draft amendments to the water treaty with mexico would have mexico take action in the dcp when both agreements are finalized. Arizona believes congressional authorization likely through this subcommittee, directing the secretary of interior to execute the dcp will be pursued when the dcp is finalized. That authorization would create certainty for the parties. As demonstrated i have outlined in our hands on deck approach is the future of the Colorado River. Within the state, we will do more of their existing infrastructure from the Bureau Reclamation and operators of this process completed the agreement this year, something chairman flake has been per in the department of interior to complete. It allows the project water and a Clear Pathway for the recovery underground and the transport of the water in this eap can now. Two will be short of the Colorado River productions and also allow exchanges between water users, which lowers their cost and creates flexibility. The other opportunity is the use of modified result to increase this yield i 70,000acre per year. Compliance considerations and issues force interested parties to set aside efforts, streamlining the process similar to the amendment senator flake inserted into the bill last year to help it back to reality. In conclusion, the internal efforts to manage Water Resources and collaborative efforts on the Colorado River will be more successful for oversight is minimized including processes are reduced or streamlined in privacy of state of managing Water Resources is honored. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Buschatzke. Thank you dear chairman flake, Ranking Member can come the members of the subcommittee for the opportunity to testify today. Many maturely thing and i serve on the board of supervisors in california and also as the board of directors for the water agency. Very proud to be here today to provide a local perspective on Water Management. We believe securing our water future means investing in our Water Resources. Water is life. We have the pleasure and awesome responsibility to deliver safe, affordable Drinking Water 365 days of the year, 24 hours a day. Drought or flood, we must provide a secure Water Supplies. There are two points i would like to convey to the subcommittee this morning. First off, the rule curve used for reservoir operations are locally outdated and in dire need of update. Secondly, Western Water managers require improved longrange forecasting a precipitation in order to manage Water Resources for both extreme wet and dry conditions. We manage to reservoir projects that provide water supply for the people in sonoma in marion county. Lake sonoma are dualpurpose reservoirs. The u. S. Army corps of engineers flood protection function and the water agency manages water supply functions. The water control manual was created in 1959, nearly 60 years later has not been adjusted. In 2013, the court was required to release 25,000 acres of rainfall from the reservoir because it had to adhere to the antiquated rule curve despite weather predictions but no rain is forecasted. The reservoir dropped to 25 capacity later that season in Sonoma County last water valued at tens of millions of dollars. We had updated rules curve in Sonoma County wouldve been better positioned to adapt to the prolonged drought that followed in the next four years. The unpredictability in our weather patterns and climate means we are constantly managing water supply with an underlying goal of becoming more resilient. Not only is resiliency critical for security, but also makes sense economically. We embarked upon initiative in 2014 with federal and state partners to improve Weather Forecast modeling and managing operations. And reservoir after rations better known as spyro and the partnership with the court and Bureau ReclamationDistrict Institute of oceanography in the state of california as well as their agency. December the partnership released a preliminary viability assessment for lake mendocino and the document is attached to my testimony. Our ultimate goal is to put into place a modern role for lake mendocino. We in the west need better data and longterm forecasting to improve Water Management. In california we experience atmospheric rivers. These atmospheric rivers provide about 50 of the yearly rainfall in california within just a few storms. The frequency and location are the primary drivers of floods and drought. However, rainfall, forecasting beyond 10 days to 14 days remains unreliable. Leadtime information about whether it is crucial for offering water supply and Flood Control infrastructure. These subsidies and seasonal rainfall forecaster critical for efficiency of Water Project operations. Working with the western States Water Council to build a coalition of stakeholders that are committed to working with partners at noaa to improve forecasting capabilities. The need for global system to actually predict our weather pattern is critical. Noaa is reading the way. Better science leads to better data and better data would greatly benefit operations. We are permitted to working with this committee and members in congress who support investing in better technology. We know that modern technology can be used more effectively to manage our reservoirs in california and all across the west. Our future generations need us to act now to secure the water supply. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify and im pleased to answer any questions you may have. Thank you, ms. Zane. Ms. Sheils. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Im Martha Sheils, director of the new England Environmental Finance Center at the admin must be school of Public Service at the university of southern maine. Knowing how busy you all are, i would like to make three key points. First, clean water is essential for growing our economy, protecting our help in ensuring security of our nation. Second, there is cause for hope in the numerous examples around our country on how state and local government are saving money investing in watershed conservation and sustainable Management Practices. Finally, the federal Government Support although helpful should be expanded. Clean water is a critical component and essential for attracting and retaining businesses, residences and tourists. In maine we now have to computer chip manufacturers with highpaying jobs as well as a proliferation of microbreweries all of which re