December 8, 2022 3:00 a.m.

On Wednesday, U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley urged the United States Department of Agriculture to give parity to the priorities of growers and communities in Oregon and the west through existing authorities, new funding, and collaboration across government.

In a letter to the USDA, the senators said, “The American West is in crisis. Across the major basins of the American West – including the Colorado River Basin, the Rio Grande Basin, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basin, the Columbia River Basin and the Arkansas-White-Red Basin – farms and families hang in the balance as they grapple with a 22-year mega drought”. The lawmakers said the acute shortage of water for western growers threatens productive farmland in the states they represent, which are “…both a pillar of our rural economies and drivers of America’s food production”.

A release said in the letter, the senators urge the USDA to support western farmers and ranchers to conserve water, improve water infrastructure and efficiency, protect lands at risk of erosion, and provide technical assistance for growers in regions affected by drought. The group also urged the USDA to better extend resources and develop tailored solutions through its existing programs to help western growers address dire drought conditions.

The letter was led by Senators Michael Bennet of Colorado and Mitt Romney of Utah. Along with Wyden and Merkley, it was co-signed by eleven other senators, representing both political parties.