About 15 senators have called on the US Agriculture Secretary, Tom Vilsack to help Western states survive what they refer to as a “22-year mega-drought” that is threatening farms and ranches across the West.
They made the call in a letter that is coming at the back of a growing economic pressure posed by the changing climate and the competition for federal money to help communities across the country cope with severe weather.
A study carried out by UCLA earlier this year showed that the West of America is suffering its most severe drought in 1,200 years. Two major reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell are at their lowest levels on record as the drought continues to affect homes and businesses.
And this is why the senators want the Department of Agriculture to use its authority to help Western farmers and ranchers conserve water, improve their water infrastructure and protect lands plagued by drought as improved water conservation, cover crops that slow erosion and improve soil health, will help farmland store more carbon from the atmosphere, which could help mitigate climate change.
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Having argued that a good number of existing programmes by the Department of Agriculture do not meet the needs of Western agriculture, they want the department to promote projects to help basins such as the Colorado River Basin, the Rio Grande Basin, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin and the Columbia River Basin
“As you know, American farmers and ranchers manage over 895 million acres of ground in the United States, giving them a vital role in combating climate change risks while continuing to feed America,” the senators wrote.
They urged Vilsack to address the understaffing of Agriculture Department field offices and to prioritize hiring more staff with expertise in West agricultural production.
Story was adapted from Miami Herald.
