2 bills for Utah water projects endorsed

WASHINGTON — Senate appropriators endorsed two bills Thursday that include more than $60 million for Utah projects, ranging from helping to combat Mormon cricket infestations to cleaning up the Atlas uranium mill tailings near Moab.

The Senate Appropriations Committee included the money in appropriations bills for agriculture and energy/water — which it sent to the full Senate, and which must eventually be reconciled with House versions. Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, is chairman of its Subcommittee on Agriculture and requested the Utah funding.

The agriculture bill included $1 million for relief from Mormon crickets in Utah. "As our farmers and ranchers continue to suffer dramatic losses from the cricket infestation and the five-year drought, we must pursue all available options to provide relief," Bennett said.

In the energy and water spending bill, Bennett also obtained another $6 million to help continuing efforts to clean up the Atlas tailings, which leach radioactive water into the Colorado River. "These funds will help expedite this (cleanup) process," he said.

• $44.2 million toward completing the Central Utah Project, which helps transfer water from the Uintah Basin to the thirsty Wasatch Front.

• $6.2 million for the Utah Reclamation and Mitigation Commission Account, for wildlife and recreation at CUP facilities.

• $500,000 for U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work on the Park City Water Supply Infrastructure Project.

• $250,000 to finish a project addressing the high levels of selenium at Stewart Lake in Uintah County.

Funding in the agriculture spending bill included:

• $1.1 million to continue restoration from flood damage in the Dry Creek Corridor in Sandy's Dimple Dell Park.

• $1.8 million combined for flood control and erosion protection projects in Roosevelt, Cedar City and Kanab.

• $750,000 for the Drought Management Initiative at Utah State University; $1 million to initiate an air quality research program at USU; $1.5 million for the Biotechnology and Genomics Research Center at USU; $1 million for USU's Jack Berryman Institute for addressing wildlife disease threat; $500,000 for vegetation manipulation research at USU; $250,000 for pasture and forage research at USU; and $250,000 for the Bee Biology and Systematics Laboratory at USU.

• $1.2 million for the Poisonous Plant Lab in Logan.

• $750,000 for the Plant Genetic Diversity and Discovery Center and ARS Forage and Rangeland Research Lab in Logan.

• $250,000 for the Utah Concentrated Animal Feed Operation and Animal Feeding Operation Pilot Project to protect water quality from animal operations discharge.

E-mail: lee@desnews.com