Press Release

May 20, 2005

$500,000 to Restore Georgia's Waterways
Interior Appropriations Bill funds partnership with
Georgia Soil and Water Commission

WASHINGTON, D.C. Today, Congressman Sanford Bishop, a Member of the House Appropriations Committee announced that $500,000 was included in the fiscal year 2006 Department of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2361) to fund incentive programs to preserve and protect Georgia’s streams and rivers.  The Interior Appropriations Bill funds the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency and other related agencies including, the Forest Service, the Indian Health Service, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities.

Working with private landowners on non-government lands, the $500,000 will fund a cooperative agreement between the Department of the Interior and the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission.  The program will provide incentives for landowners to implement best practices intended to accelerate the restoration and protection of Georgia’s valuable waters.

“We are fortunate to have a reliable and abundant natural water supply in Southwest Georgia, to drink, to enjoy with our families and to sustain our agriculture,” said Congressman Bishop. “This project is critical to preserving this tremendous natural resource for us and for our future generations.”

H.R. 2361, which passed the House of Representative late yesterday by a vote of 329 to 89 is one of eleven appropriations bills that assign discretionary funding for each of the federal government’s agencies.  Once the Senate passes its version of the bill, the House and Senate will meet in conference to resolve differences between their respective recommendations.

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