Office of Rep. LaTurner
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. Jake LaTurner (R-KS) and Yadira Caraveo, M.D. (D-CO) introduced a bipartisan bill Thursday that will help family farmers and ranchers fight drought.
The Voluntary Groundwater Conservation Act gives farmers and ranchers the flexibility they need to protect groundwater sources while also keeping their agricultural lands in production under a new voluntary groundwater easement program at the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) within the Agricultural Conservation Easements Program.
"Declining groundwater supply is a growing concern for our rural communities. As farmers and ranchers across Kansas continue to face historic drought, it's more important than ever that we work to conserve our state's water supply for generations to come," said LaTurner.
"I'm proud to partner with Rep. Caraveo to introduce the Voluntary Groundwater Conservation Act to provide agriculture producers with the resources they need to help reduce groundwater use, conserve our natural resources, and keep their land in production."
“We in the West understand just how precious a resource our water is. That’s especially true in many rural communities, which rely on groundwater as their primary source of drinking water, and as irrigation supply for farmers and ranchers,” said Caraveo.
America’s groundwater resources are a primary source of drinking water for rural communities and a vital irrigation water supply for many family farms and ranches across the country. However, these resources are in decline — a trend that could seriously affect communities, water users, ecosystem health and local economies.
The Voluntary Groundwater Conservation Act would:
- Create a new Groundwater Conservation Easement Program at USDA to encourage voluntary, compensated reductions in groundwater consumption on agricultural land and advance local, regional, or state groundwater management goals;
- Allow NRCS to reimburse transaction costs up to 5 percent of the federal share and requires an advance payment for limited resource producers to cover these costs;
- Guarantee long-term management flexibility for a producer to continue farming and choose how they reduce their water use, as long as they conserve the amount they’ve committed to reducing each year;
- Ensure that farmers are fairly compensated using a payment based on the market value for the water right instead of a per acre payment; and
- Clarify that easement funds shall not be counted towards a farm’s adjusted gross income and that producers with an adjusted gross income of more than $900,000 are eligible for a waiver from the Secretary to participate in groundwater conservation easements.
U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) introduced the Voluntary Groundwater Conservation Act in the Senate earlier this month.
Full text of the bill is available HERE.