{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://www.barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=52B4B24E-D14E-49AD-9FD0-A85DB8C918EB", "Bipartisan Bill that Addresses Flooding in Wyoming Headed to President\u2019s Desk", "2016-12-10", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "WY", "John Barrasso", "B001261", "www.barrasso.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) praised final passage of the bipartisan Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act by a vote of 78 to 21. The bill already passed the House of Representatives and now heads to the president\u2019s desk to be signed into law.\r\nThe bill authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to improve and maintain dams, inland waterways, ports and projects to prevent flooding and ensure that communities have adequate water supplies.\r\n\u201cToday, Congress came together to overwhelmingly pass a bipartisan bill that will help improve water infrastructure across the country,\u201d said Barrasso. \u201cIt also includes provisions that will specifically help communities in Wyoming and across Indian Country. I look forward to the president signing this bill into law as soon as possible.\u201d\r\nBarrasso, a member of the committee that authored the bill, successfully included items for Wyoming that help increase water storage, improve dam safety and irrigation in Indian Country, and prevent ice-jam flooding, especially in rural communities.\r\nFederal water-storage facilities in the West, including Wyoming, are losing existing space due to sediment buildup. One of the Barrasso provisions in the bill will create a pilot program targeting sediment buildup in existing U.S. Army Corps and Bureau of Reclamation water-storage facilities in the Upper Missouri River Basin.\r\n\u201cExpanding water storage is critical in the West,\u201d said Barrasso. \u201cRemoving and reducing sediment buildup is one way we can immediately increase water storage. That\u2019s why the creation of the pilot project is so important. It will give federal agencies and local communities the tools they need to work together to reduce sediment buildup in federal dams in Wyoming.\u201d\r\nIce jams \u2013 when frozen rivers thaw in the spring and the ice heads downstream \u2013 cause severe damage to levees.\r\n\u201cIn Greybull, Worland and other towns across the state, ice jams are a serious public safety concern. These towns also can\u2019t afford the out-of-control costs that come with severe flooding,\u201d said Barrasso. \u201cThanks to this law, we\u2019ll now be better equipped to develop more cost-effective and innovative ways to prevent ice jam flooding.\u201d\r\nBarrasso, who serves as chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, was also successful in including his bill, S. 2717, the Dam Repairs and Improvements for Tribes Act of 2016 (DRIFT Act) as a provision in WIIN. It addresses the deferred maintenance needs of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) dams, and reforms tribal programs within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that focus on flood mitigation and prevention in Native communities.\r\nBarrasso also successfully included another one of his bills, S.438, the Irrigation Rehabilitation and Renovation for Indian Tribal Governments and Their Economies Act (the IRRIGATE Act) as a provision in WIIN. It would help provide for the repair, replacement, and maintenance of certain Indian irrigation projects.\r\n\u201cThese measures will help protect Native and surrounding communities from flooding, improve aging irrigation systems, clarify water rights, take land into trust for tribes, and protect and improve lives across Indian Country,\u201d said Barrasso.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://www.barrasso.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=52B4B24E-D14E-49AD-9FD0-A85DB8C918EB"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7526238225400448, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}