Salt Cedar and Russian Olive Control Assessment and Demonstration Act

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2707) to direct the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture, acting through the U.S. Forest Service, to carry out a demonstration program to assess potential water savings through control of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive on forests and public lands administered by the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2707, the Salt Cedar and Russian Olive Control Demonstration Act, provides for the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture to carry out a demonstration program

assessing potential water savings through control of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive on forests and public lands administered by the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Forest Service.

Salt Cedar and Russian Olive are both invasive species that adversely impact the water supply, increases soil salinity, lowers the potential water that the soil can hold, and increases fire frequency. Last summer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, several hundred acres along the Rio Grande River burned, forcing about 600 people to be evacuated from their homes. This fire burned many native cottonwood and willow trees. However, one of the culprits being blamed for the escalation of the fire is the large amount of underbrush that had collected, which was mostly Salt Cedar. Without this buildup of Salt Cedar, the fire probably would not have burned as extensively or with the intensity that it did.

Regardless of what side of the aisle one is on, most can agree that controlling Salt Cedar and Russian Olive is important for water salvage, riparian restoration, salinity control, habitat restoration, and wildlife management.

Salt Cedar is widely distributed and is extensive along riparian areas in the Western United States, particularly along the Colorado, Rio Grande, the Pecos and Gila Rivers. Controlling and hopefully one day completely eradicating Salt Cedar and Russian Olive is important. As we eradicate Salt Cedar, we increase the flow of water in the streams, springs, and rivers, and restore native plants that are less water-consuming and improve habitat.

Because of the widespread nature of Salt Cedar and Russian Olive, there have been many projects to clear these trees and then to estimate how much water was saved. These increased stream flows and water restoration estimates vary widely. The high ranges from 6 to 9 acrefeet saved per year, down to a low of between zero to 1.5 acrefeet per year, per acre cleared, the last estimate based on a study done by USGS on the Pecos River in New Mexico.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2707 will begin to address these problems by providing sound science and, in turn, developing and expanding on innovative approaches to control these harmful weeds.

I urge adoption of the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Neugebauer).

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes.

As the assembled body can hear, this bipartisan bill has great importance, and especially throughout the West. I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega), and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall) for their hard work on behalf of this bill.

I have areas, Mr. Speaker, in my district which typically get around 16 inches of rainfall a year. In the last several years, we have gotten less than 6 inches in many of those areas; in some areas, as little as 2 inches in the last 12 months.

Mr. Speaker, our entire agricultural production system is at risk. We need to support our farming and ranching. We need to understand that one of the most critical things we can provide for ourselves and our Nation is a secure supply of food.

Mr. Speaker, this bill should begin to deliver more water to the agriculture community of America.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I accept the gentleman's offer of the rain that he has and shares so willingly, and we will address that in the next bill.

Mr. Speaker, I have no additional speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from American Samoa for yielding me this time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2707. I am an original cosponsor of this legislation, and I worked hard to push it through the House Committee on Agriculture; and I also want to commend highly my colleague from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) for his diligent work on the Committee on Resources to make this issue a top priority and to shepherd this bill to the floor of the House of Representatives today. Again, I thank my friend from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) for his work on bringing it to the floor today.

My friend from New Mexico and I share similar constituencies, and we maintain the same concerns that we must act now to ensure the availability of fresh water in the future. This legislation is not about simply eliminating Salt Cedar and Russian Olive from watersheds. It is about controlling these plants to increase our supplies of fresh water in the Western United States. America's citizens should not have to compete with invasive pests for an already limited supply of drinking water.

I have represented west Texas now for 25 years, and there is virtually nothing of greater daily concern out there than the availability of fresh water. Like much of the West, the 17th Congressional District of Texas has certainly experienced the consequences of drought. Stream banks and lakebeds continued to recede during the dry periods, while Salt Cedar proliferates in those areas.

The devastating results can be seen all over west Texas as dense thickets of Salt Cedar have overtaken native plant species in the Colorado River basin. In fact, the Colorado River Municipal Water District estimated that Salt Cedar consumed more water in 2002 than the district's largest municipal customer, a city with more than 100,000 people. The combined capacity of the district's three reservoirs fell below 25 percent during 2002, and it became readily apparent that Salt Cedar was robbing municipalities of this precious resource.

The water district has worked closely with many Federal, State, and local entities to begin brush control projects within the Colorado River watershed. They have implemented Salt Cedar control projects with reasonable success on both public and private lands. Further, private landowners have successfully partnered with the National Resources Conservation Service to employ brush control on their properties. In several cases, dormant streams and creeks have again begun to flow where those control programs were implemented.

I am convinced that this bill moves towards real solutions to the Salt Cedar and Russian Olive invasion. It lays out the framework for private and public land managers to cooperate with the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, local soil and water conservation districts and State agencies to work together on the demonstration programs authorized in this bill. After all, it will take integrated control and management practices to significantly deter the further spread of these non-native species.

I have worked tirelessly during my time in Congress to address the scarce water situation in west Texas, and I can attest that brush control efforts have produced the most lasting results in the 17th district. Most of our Nation faces an urgency to develop long-term plans to ensure that communities will have an adequate supply of drinking water. I truly believe this legislation will help public and private land managers across the Western United States take a giant step toward implementing more efficient and effective brush control projects that will result in better water conservation.

I close by saying, unlike a barrel of oil, it is tough to put a price on clean, fresh water.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2707. I thank the gentleman from New Mexico for his sponsorship and leadership. We have heard about how important it is to the areas of Texas and New Mexico. It is also important to my district, one of the most important agricultural areas in the United States, the Imperial Valley of California.

We use water from the Colorado River, and we have heard how invasive this Salt Cedar can be. In fact, the Imperial County Agriculture Commissioners Office and the Brawley, California Research Station have been studying for a long time now how to control Salt Cedar. John Kershaw, the president of the Imperial Valley Conservation Research Center Committee, and Stephen Birdsall, Imperial County Agricultural Commissioner, have briefed me on the great strides that have been made to controlling Salt Cedar in our area. This bill will greatly help with those efforts.

We have heard how much water these species use. Salt Cedar is like a giant straw: One tree can suck up to 200 gallons of water a day.

It can cause an increase in fire and flooding, a decrease in water quantity and quality and an increase in soil salinity. It can replace native species, degrade wildlife habitat, and limit the human use of riverbanks.

Salt Cedar was originally introduced in order to stabilize stream banks, but it has turned into a nightmare for our farming communities. We have spent millions of dollars trying to eradicate this pest. Million of gallons of water

have been wasted. We have become increasingly concerned about water conservation and the best use of our natural resources in this Nation. Those of us who rely on the Colorado River see that Salt Cedar squanders this precious, precious water.

Removing it would allow native plants which have been squeezed out by the noxious tree to come back to our community. Removing the tree would also encourage wildlife populations to increase, including several species, such as the Willow Flycatcher, that are declining or are threatened or endangered. The Flycatcher is an endangered bird that eats insects that thrive on native plants in my district, which the Salt Cedar has displaced.

I commend the Departments of Interior and Agriculture for their dedication to controlling or eradicating invasive species such as Salt Cedar. We must continue this important work. We can protect our most precious natural resources, water, wildlife, and soil, by eradicating this invasive species.

Mr. Speaker, clearly these species are serious problems across all the United States, but particularly in the Southwest. The challenges they present to our communities are enormous, but we cannot let them ruin our natural native resources. We can and we must take back the land and water for our communities.

I thank the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce) for his leadership in this struggle.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this legislation, H.R. 2707. Salt Cedar and Russian Olive trees have caused severe ecological damage in the Southwest. These invasive species crowd out native species while crossing public and private lands, spreading indiscriminately. This bill will take the first step to enhance our capability to control these species. Under this proposed legislation, land managers will quantify the scope of the Salt Cedar and Russian Olive invasion and then develop demonstration projects to eradicate the invasives.

Invasive species control should become a national priority. I believe this bill is only a tip of the iceberg. We must find a solution not only to Salt Cedar and Russian Olive invasions, but also to the spread of other invasive plants and animals.

I want to commend my good friend, the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce), for his management of this legislation, and commend him also for sponsoring this legislation. I also thank the majority for incorporating amendments to the text at our request. I would also like to recognize the members of the Committee on Resources and members on this side of the aisle who also have been cosponsors of this bill: the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Grijalva), the gentleman from California (Mr. Cardoza), the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Mark Udall), and the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Tom Udall) as sponsors of this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from California (Mr. Filner).

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Stenholm), our most senior ranking member on the Committee on Agriculture, and certainly commend him for his expertise on agriculture-related issues.

Mr. Speaker, I gladly yield 5 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Udall), one of the cosponsors of this legislation.

(Mr. UDALL of New Mexico asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute.

Mr. Speaker, my district has 200 inches of rainwater a year, and I would be more than glad to share some of my water with my colleagues. Unfortunately, they would have to go many miles to get these 200 inches of water that we would be more than glad to share with our friends here in the continental United States.

Mr. Speaker, I think the spirit of bipartisanship has been demonstrated this afternoon as we debate and discuss this issue; and, again, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, 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.

Because of the importance of this task, support of efforts to eradicate non-native plants in New Mexico are widely supported by a diverse number of groups. The Alliance for the Rio Grande Heritage and the Northern New Mexico Sierra Club have supported efforts by the New Mexico legislature to eliminate Salt Cedar and other phreatophytes along the State's riverbanks.

Farmers and conservationists agree that everything possible must be done to remove Salt Cedars and other invasive species. Addressing a problem of this magnitude will require significant resources; and it is, therefore, imperative that we develop the most effective approaches. Passing this legislation will allow the Federal Government to make a significant contribution to helping communities throughout the Nation eradicate the Salt Cedar.

Mr. Speaker, the water problems facing the West are complex and politically charged. However, we all stand here today committed to taking an important step in the fight against water shortages by passing this legislation. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

I thank, once again, the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. Pearce).