OLIVIA TOBIAS & BRANDON MESSICK [4/3/26]
Read the article here.
Veterans make up 12% of Kingman’s population, so there is always local concern regarding the well-being of the people who served our country, and the legislation that could impact them.
U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego came to Kingman on Wednesday, April 1 where he held a Veterans Town Hall to talk about the concern of local veterans at the Jerry Ambrose Veterans’ Center. Gallego’s stop in Kingman was part of a larger tour which included stops in Lake Havasu City and Parker, as well as a visit with the Colorado River Indian Tribes and a meeting with the Hualapai Tribe.
During the Town hall in Kingman, Gallego spoke on the legislation he is working on that involves veteran issues. He said one of the bills – which has already passed the Senate- would require the exclusion of disability compensation from the calculation of a veteran’s annual income when they apply for housing.
“There are veterans who are not taking their VA disability because they’re afraid they’re going to get kicked off housing.” Gallego said. “You don’t want to put [a veteran] in a situation where they have to decide: am I going to take the disability, or am I going to try to get housing and then still find work?”
He also talked about various bipartisan efforts he’s involved with seeking to expand research on alternative PTSD treatments and therapy methods.
“We’ve seen other people respond well to different types of drug therapies using MDMA, controlled MDMA, but we’re not really exploring them,” Gallego said. “So myself and another veteran names Tim Sheehy from Montana, have sponsored a bill so we can set up six areas of research that we can research different types of therapy so veterans can get into therapy and actually have better effects.”
He said that many veterans are already pursuing these type of therapies, but go to Mexico to see unlicensed therapists to seek these types of treatment. Gallego said that while no known fatalities have come as a result of these unprofessional treatments, they’re still dangerous and bring the potential of harm to veterans.
Gallego also spoke on the war in Iran, tying it to his own experience as an Iraq veteran.
“Obviously, a top of mind for me is the war in Iran,” Gallego said. “I did not think we should be going to war, just to be 100% honest. I don’t regret my service to my country. I don’t regret serving with the men that I did, but going to Iraq was a mistake. And starting this war is only a bigger mistake.”
While in Lake Havasu City, the Senator focused on the river cities reliance on water from the Colorado River.
“We are entirely tied to the river,” Gallego said. “It’s not just the ability to farm or to drink, but if you look at places like Havasu, Parker and Bullhead City, it’s also the tourism that comes with it. If we have mismanagement of the water level here, we would deeply affect the economies of these river communities.”
Colorado River water levels have declined over the past two decades as the Southwest has endured prolonged drought and the Rocky Mountains have produced weaker snowpack. The U.S. Department of the Interior ordered the seven basin states to work out a new agreement on how to divide the river’s remaining supply, but they missed the latest deadline, Feb. 14.
“There are going to be cuts no matter what,” Gallego said. “What we want is to be treated fairly.”
He said a fair deal should not force the fastest-growing states to absorb the deepest cuts.
“I’ve talked to (U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum) about this … we had a great conversation about the river system. I think if he looked at the issue when it comes to cuts on the river system, (Arizona) as an area should have less cuts,” Gallego said. “And we should be getting some credit for all the work we’ve already been doing for the past 10 years to conserve and (voluntarily) cut the water we’ve already been using. The fact the Upper Basin states and the federal government do not want to give us credit for that is bad policy, because then no one would ever want to do conservation on their own.”
Arizona has already made major voluntary cuts to its Colorado River use over the past decade. Since 2016, Arizona has been responsible for nearly half of all voluntary water reductions to stabilize water levels at Lake Mead. In February, Arizona even offered to reduce its current allocation of Colorado River water – about 2.8 million annual acre-feet — by an additional 27%.
When water shortages at Lake Mead were declared in 2022, Arizona accepted a 300,000 acre-foot reduction in its allocation, larger than the cuts imposed on any other Colorado River Basin state.
Gallego argued that Arizona has already sacrificed more than any other state on the river.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Census shows that Arizona’s population grew by 12% from 2010 to 2020 – an increase unmatched by any other basin state except for Nevada, whose population grew by 15% within the same span
“You’re dealing with a lot of communities along the river that are essentially surrounded by federal land, we’re going to have to make investments to help these areas survive,” Gallego said. “That means reclamation, water conservation, making canals more water efficient, reducing seepage … these communities aren’t going to be able to fund those things on their own.”