Washington, D.C. – “Extreme disrepair”, “extensive seepage”, “insufficient drainage” and “unserviceable structures” are just a few of the words the Wyoming delegation used in a letter sent today that asks the Department of Interior to fund improvements to an irrigation system on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Fremont County.
Senators Craig Thomas, Mike Enzi, and Representative Barbara Cubin, all R-Wyo., sent a letter today to the Secretary of the Interior to make sure the Wind River Irrigation Project (WRIP) receives a significant share of the $7.5 million Congress approved last year for reservation irrigation.
“Unfortunately the Wind River Irrigation Project has declined to a state of extreme disrepair over the years. Due to deferred maintenance and inadequate funding, the irrigation system has inadequate and unserviceable structures, extensive seepage along delivery canals, and insufficient drainage,” the delegation wrote in a letter Wednesday to the Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton. “Of the 40,000 acres of irrigable land, approximately 25 percent is idle and lacks adequate water delivery systems.”
The Department of Interior Appropriations bill that became public law on August 2, 2005 contained language that would provide $7.5 million in construction funds for Indian irrigation systems in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. The WRIP was specified in the bill language as a project with one of the greatest needs for rehabilitation.
Senators Craig Thomas, Mike Enzi, and Representative Barbara Cubin, all R-Wyo., sent a letter today to the Secretary of the Interior to make sure the Wind River Irrigation Project (WRIP) receives a significant share of the $7.5 million Congress approved last year for reservation irrigation.
“Unfortunately the Wind River Irrigation Project has declined to a state of extreme disrepair over the years. Due to deferred maintenance and inadequate funding, the irrigation system has inadequate and unserviceable structures, extensive seepage along delivery canals, and insufficient drainage,” the delegation wrote in a letter Wednesday to the Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton. “Of the 40,000 acres of irrigable land, approximately 25 percent is idle and lacks adequate water delivery systems.”
The Department of Interior Appropriations bill that became public law on August 2, 2005 contained language that would provide $7.5 million in construction funds for Indian irrigation systems in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota. The WRIP was specified in the bill language as a project with one of the greatest needs for rehabilitation.
