On Friday, the Obama administration announced it would spend more than $110 million to help combat wildfires and to help people who have suffered from the drought. This is in addition to more than $190 million that the federal government has invested this year.
“A number of our programs will provide direct benefits to producers who are either confronting drought or who have had significant losses due to drought,” said Robert Bonnie, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s undersecretary for natural resources and environment.
Among these programs, Bonnie said the USDA will likely spend more than $1 billion on the livestock forage program, which helps farmers and ranchers who lost feed to the drought.
The administration will also attempt to create temporary water conservation related jobs for people in California who will have lost their positions due to the drought.
The U.S. Department of the Interior will also put $10 million towards landscape projects that will reduce the risk of wildfires and protect natural resources and watersheds.
Utah’s Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox, who attended the Obama administration’s briefing to government officials, said the state will use the funds where needed, but they may not be as necessary here because of the wet spring, and possibly wet summer to come.
“We’ve been very fortunate the last month and a half that our need is not as great as specifically California and Nevada, to a lesser extent, and we hope that continues,” Cox said. “But we will use whatever resources are available to help us get through any difficult times caused by the drought.”
Cox said although the recent downpours have not significantly increased the water storage, they cut down on usage so the resources that were previously available are still available. He said this should prolong the rest of the water season.
Cox went on to say the state should not expect a harmful impact on the economy, but this could change if we have a dry winter and spring next year.
