Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly will chair an oversight hearing on western drought Wednesday.
Kelly, a Democrat, is a member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and is among more than 20 bipartisan senators who reached a more than $1 trillion infrastructure agreement, which included provisions addressing water issues in the West and passed the Senate in August.
It comes amid a persistent region-wide drought and the federal government’s first-ever shortage declaration for the Colorado River.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation predicts water levels in Lake Mead will drop below the trigger for cuts by the end of the year. The shortage largely affects farmers in central Arizona.
