Through an executive order this week, the president created a 'water subcabinet' focused on providing farmers with reliable water supplies and communities with safe drinking water. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler will lead the group.
The subcabinet will focus on “actions to increase water storage, water supply reliability and drought resiliency.” This includes updating dam operations to add more capacity, streamlining permit reviews and developing voluntary conservation programs. The subcabinet will also deliver policy recommendations for modernizing storage and conveyance infrastructure and will “cut bureaucratic red tape,” according to Bernhardt.
Bill Northey, USDA’s undersecretary for farm production and conservation, said this will make it “easier for farmers to be successful and to ensure they are the most innovative in the world.”
