Reid backs funds for flood relief

WASHINGTON — Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, announced Friday that he and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., have requested additional funding to support flood relief in Utah and Nevada and to prevent future flooding disasters.

The letter, written to Senate Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., stated that while the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service determined that $66 million would be needed to alleviate problems caused by the flooding in southern Utah and help prevent future disasters, only $9.2 million has been allocated.

In addition to stating the immediate damage caused by the flood in Utah's Washington County, the letter read, "To make matters worse, above-normal snowpack in the mountains will likely cause record snow melt runoff in the coming weeks, potentially resulting in a even larger disaster."

In Nevada, the same floods caused damage estimated at $20 million in Lincoln and Clark Counties along the Muddy and Virgin Rivers.

Hatch and Reid stated in the letter that additional funding is desperately needed to rebuild waterway concourses of eroded rivers before new flooding occurs. They are requesting that the funding be taken from the Supplemental Appropriations Act.