$26M secured to improve forecasting MT drought, flooding
Funding will go towards soil moisture and snowpack monitoring to prevent, predict, and prepare for extreme weather
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News from the office of Senator Tester
BIG SANDY — As a part of his continued work to ensure Montana communities are prepared for extreme flooding and drought, U.S. Senator Jon Tester today secured $26,000,000 in funding from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration to support soil moisture and snowpack monitoring and improve drought and flood forecasting in Montana and four other Upper Missouri River Basin states. This investment will come from Tester’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and will work to deliver critical information to improve weather prediction in Montana.
This investment marks a partnership between Montana’s leading climate and water-resource researchers and NOAA, and will be funding a pilot project to study the Upper Missouri River Basin. These observations are projected to dramatically improve forecasting for droughts and floods, as well as redefine Montana’s state-of-the-art soil moisture and snowpack monitoring.
As the only working farmer in the U.S. Senate, Tester has a long record of getting disaster relief to struggling producers across America and in Montana. In addition to championing more than $1.75 billion in Emergency Relief Program (ERP) and Emergency Livestock Relief Payment (ELRP), Tester led a successful, bipartisan effort to push USDA to expand the Emergency Assistance for Livestock Program (ELAP) to cover costs associated with hauling feed and water to livestock in drought, and vice versa. In June, Tester introduced his bipartisan Livestock Disaster Relief Act with Senator John Hoeven (R-N.D.) to help ensure that Montana’s ranchers receive the relief funding needed to recover from future disasters. Tester’s bipartisan bill would improve the Livestock Forage Program (LFP) and Emergency Assistance for Livestock Program (ELAP) to better meet the needs of ranchers impacted by drought and other natural disasters.
