Funding for reservoirs for farmers remains in Farm Bill

BY AMY DOMINELLO
Media General News Service
Published: May 8, 2008

WASHINGTON – A provision in the Farm Bill that would provide funding to build reservoirs on farms throughout Alabama and the Southeast has cleared a major obstacle – Congressional negotiations.

Proposed by Rep. Terry Everett, R-Ala., the provision is included in the massive five-year Farm Bill that sets the nation’s farm policy. Leaders in Congress announced an agreement on the bill Thursday. What Everett proposed remained largely intact in the negotiations.

Under the program, water would be drawn from rivers during the winter when rain is more plentiful in the Southeast. The reservoirs would hold the water and collect rainwater for drier months.

Money for the reservoirs would only be available to farmers who have lived in drought-stricken areas in the past two years, said Mike Lewis, a spokesman for Everett. It would come from the Agriculture Water Enhancement Program, which would be funded at $70 million a year.

The Farm Bill still has a ways to go. Congress will vote on the bill next week and it must be signed by the President. However, the White House has said the dollar amount – nearly $300 billion - is too high.

Contact Amy Dominello at 202-662-7671 or .