President Obama Allocates $110M For Drought-Relief

Posted by Christina Herrick|June 16, 2015

On Friday, President Obama announced the investment of $110 million to support workers, farmers, and rural communities suffering from drought and to combat wildfires. The new funding builds on the more than $190 million that agencies across the Federal Government have invested to support drought-stricken communities so far this year.

Currently, 35% of the West is facing severe to exceptional drought. In California, the mountain snowpack that supplies most of the water during the summer months is only a trace above zero. In addition to targeting funding and resources to those most impacted, for more than a year the Administration has been doing everything it can to support communities facing drought. That includes coordinating in real time with state and local officials, reducing Federal water use, and identifying the tools and actions needed to enhance community drought planning and water resource management through the National Drought Resilience Partnership.

The President announced these programs as part of the $110 million:

In California alone, a recent University of California-Davis study estimates 18,000 lost jobs because of drought. These losses leave working families struggling to make ends meet. The Department of Labor is announcing new plans to assist them by awarding as much as $18 million to the State of California to provide jobs for workers dislocated by the drought. Starting in July, this National Dislocated Worker Grant will employ up to 1,000 workers for up to six months with public and nonprofit agencies working to build drought resilience, reduce wildfire risk, and improve water efficiency.
USDA announces ongoing support for farmers, livestock producers, and struggling families, that includes USDA’s Risk Management Agency providing an estimated $30 million in additional crop protection coverage and relief to farmers in Fiscal Year 2016, and $42 million in Fiscal Year 2017.
The Bureau of Reclamation is announcing $6.5 million in fiscal year 2015 to support water management improvement projects over the next two years. The Federal grants will be combined with local cost-share contributions, making a total of nearly $30 million available to help alleviate the impacts of the drought on communities and agriculture.

For more on the funds allocated to drought relief, click here.

Source: WhiteHouse.gov