Sen. Kelly Statement on Breakthrough Water Conservation Agreement

Today, Senator Mark Kelly released the following statement in response to the announcement of a major water conservation agreement with the Gila River Indian Community made possible by the Lower Basin Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program created and funded by Kelly in the Inflation Reduction Act. This is the first agreement in the program, which Kelly announced at a roundtable in Phoenix with the Bureau of Reclamation last month would use $250 million to conserve about 650,000 acre feet of water, the equivalent of 10 feet of water level in Lake Mead. 

“Today’s announcement is a big deal for Arizona, and the good news is there is more to come,” said Senator Kelly. “This buys us real time as we work on long-term conservation and is exactly what we envisioned when we worked to get this funding included in the Inflation Reduction Act and signed into law by President Biden. Governor Lewis and the Gila River Indian Community have been a central and critical part of the work to secure Arizona‘s water future. I look forward to continuing to work with them and our state and federal leaders to tackle this historic drought.”