http://droughtreporter.unl.edu/

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President Obama’s 2017 budget proposal contains funds for drought relief in the West through improving the efficiency of water supplies and adopting new water supply technology. The president proposed $98.6 million for the Interior Department’s WaterSmart program that promotes water conservation; $88 million for the National Science Foundation to support research to increase the water supply and the quality of water; $28.6 million for the Bureau of Reclamation for research and development including a challenge prize for water-treatment technologies; $25 million for the Energy Department for a water desalination research hub; and $15 million in the Agriculture Department to support research on agricultural practices that conserve water. The budget also proposes changing the mechanism for funding wildfire suppression. Base funding is equal to 70 percent of the 10-year average of the cost of fighting wildfires. An extra $290 million is available for the expense of fighting severe fires. The additional funds would hopefully prevent federal agencies from transferring or borrowing money from other parts of their budgets to pay for firefighting. Palm Springs Desert Sun (Calif.), Feb. 9, 2016