Passage of the historic 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has spurred construction projects, and plans for such projects, throughout the West.
But the growth in such work, contends the executive director of the Western Governors’ Association, is placing increased demands on state offices overseeing such projects to the point of their needing more staff—and as soon as possible.
“The importance of highly qualified staff that oversees the process and evaluation of permit applications should not be overlooked,” Jack Waldorf has remarked to members of the House Committee on Appropriations.
“Recent infrastructure investments have increased workloads for local agency field offices and created new demand for technical assistance from local communities and states,” Waldorf stated.
Addressing his remarks specifically to the Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies, Waldorf suggested that federal support should be increased for “agencies overseeing critical infrastructure projects to increase their capacity to conduct environmental reviews and permitting activities in a timely manner.”
The former head of federal relations for the University of Colorado system, Waldorf was named to lead the Western Governors Association in 2023.
The association is made up of the chief executives of 19 states, along with the territories of American Samoa, Northern Mariana, and Guam, banding together on growth, energy, and agricultural issues of particular importance to the region.
And of those issues, noted Waldorf, nothing is more important than water.
“In most of the West,” he remarked, “water is a scarce resource that must be managed with sensitivity to social, environmental, and economic values and needs.”
While the governors of the Western states are in “the best position to manage and protect their water resources,” said Waldorf, they still need help from Washington.
“Without undermining states’ authority over water resources management, Congress should ensure adequate funding is available for new water projects, as well as improvements to aging water, wastewater, and hydropower facilities.”
Ongoing infrastructure investments remain “essential to our nation’s continued economic prosperity, electricity generation capacity, and environmental protection,” continued Waldorf.
To that end, Congress should continue to use monies sent to the historic federal Reclamation Fund “for their intended purpose,” which Waldorf identified as “the conservation, development, and use of resources to meet Western water-related needs.”
And among those needs, Waldorf made sure to add, are Bureau of Reclamation “rural water projects and facilities that are part of Congressionally authorized Indian water rights settlements.”
By Garry Boulard
