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FACT BRIEF

Did Mark Kelly claim Arizona's drought is not an existential crisis?

By Ngan Nguyen
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YES

In an Aug. 21, 2022 interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly from Arizona said severe drought in Arizona is "not existential" in response to interviewer Jake Tapper calling it “an existential crisis.” Kelly said there are solutions to water issues in the West, citing provisions to deal with drought in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and Inflation Reduction Act. He also said there is currently a lack of partnership between states in the Colorado River Basin, which is hindering progress.

The U.S. Senate recently passed the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act of 2022 that Kelly says will allot Arizona funding for infrastructure and flood control. Kelly “shaped” this legislation in his position on the Senate Environment and Public Works committee.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
CNN August 21, 2022 Interview With Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ): Transcript
Senator Mark Kelly U.S. Senate Passes Kelly-Shaped Bill to Secure Arizona’s Water Future
Politico Mark Kelly: ‘So important that the other states step up’ in Southwest drought
Politicus Media Mark Kelly Delivers The Facts To Jake Tapper On The Western Water Crisis
The Arizona Republic 'We've got a problem': Sen. Mark Kelly tells states that rely on Colorado River water to 'step up'
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Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.
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Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.