The legislation left in place a tax loophole that benefits high-earning people in the private equity and real estate industries. The deal set off a flurry of media speculation about her motives, but it wasn't the only successful request she made in order to secure her vote.
To properly address climate change, Sinema told her fellow Democrats, the bill needed to provide an extra $4 billion in funding to help her home state of Arizona.
The loophole that benefits wealthy campaign donors has not been retained.
I was not a fan of some of the things Sinema did against the bill, but she came through in the end and made it a good bill. I am really looking forward to it.
The funding would be used to help protect private water rights and to help conserve water, according to a Senate aide. The goal is to increase the level of water in the Colorado River system so that Arizona gets more of its water from the river.
KOLD News 13, a CBS television station in Tucson, Ariz., reported that the funds will be used to help farmers who are dealing with water supply problems by helping them find ways of maintaining crop yields with less water.
The legislation will allow us to help provide some compensation to farmers in the short term who may have to have their fields go fallow.
Climate change and a growing population have caused water scarcity in the desert state. Since 2000, the Southwest has been plunged into an ongoing dry spell due to hotter average temperatures, increased water evaporation and more extreme weather. According to research published this year, the last 20 years have been the driest in 1,200 years.
The last two years have been the warmest on record in the region. The Southwest received the lowest total precipitation and the third- highest daily average temperatures of any 20-month period since 1895.
The United Nations Environment Program warned last week that the Colorado River is so low it is dangerous.
The conditions in the American West have been so dry for more than two decades that we are no longer talking of a drought. A new, very dry normal is referred to asaridification.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee was told in June that large reductions in water deliveries would be required to maintain critical levels.
The general manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority said at the Senate hearing that the moment of truth is near.
The Department of Interior announced in May that it was withholding some water from Lake Powell in order to prevent Glen Canyon Dam from being able to generate electricity. The lake is on the Utah-Arizona border.
I was appalled by what I saw when I went to Lake Powell a year ago. The lake used to be so beautiful that you could see it from the road, but now it looks like it is miles away. You can't find the lake against the road.
The people pushing for the funds were not the only ones. The money had been secured in the legislation according to a joint statement by the senators.
It is essential that we have the resources we need to support our states' efforts to combat climate change, conserve water resources, and protect the Colorado River Basin, according to the senators.
The biggest threat to the Southwest is not enough water. It is worrying. We have a water supply. Our children could become climate change refugees if we don't pay attention to this.
Even though the Democratic Party disagreed with Sinema over the carried-interest loophole, they both agreed on the need for Arizona to find new ways of using water more efficiently.
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