The U.S. Senate has approved a bipartisan bill designed to shore up drought mitigation and flood control projects in Arizona.
The Water Resources Development Act passed as part of the annual must-pass National Defense Authorization Act.
The measure would expedite the long-delayed Winslow Levee Project that would project communities near Winslow from persistent flooding on the Little Colorado River.
The bill would also speed up completion of the Rio de Flag Flood Control Project in Flagstaff which has also been stalled for decades.
The legislation would streamline several other groundwater management and drought mitigation projects throughout the state as the entire region faces a decades-long drought.
In addition, the bill shifts 100% of the cost share of cleaning up abandoned uranium mines on tribal lands to the federal government.