The Missouri legislature passed a bill Thursday that would ban the export of water from the state without a permit.
Lawmakers talked about water scarcity in the Western U.S. and laid out concerns that those states would tap Missouri's water resources amid drought in discussion on the House floor Thursday.
"Those states are turning a thirsty eye to Missouri and other Midwestern states that are water rich in order to get some of that water and move it," said Rep. Colin Wellenkamp, R-St. Charles County. "That is a very real threat that this bill attempts to mitigate."
Senate Bill 82 passed the Senate in March and is now headed to the governor for final approval.
It requires people to get a permit from the state Department of Natural Resources to export water.
The legislation makes it illegal to export water with a pipeline farther than 30 miles from the state's borders. Water exporters would also be required to report the amount of water they withdrew and its use.
If Missouri's governor were to declare a state of emergency due to drought, the Department of Natural Resources would be required to reevaluate export permits.
Last year, a similar bill passed the state House but failed in the Senate.
"We have to get something into play because the Western states at some point in time will be coming after Missouri's water," state Sen. Jamie Burger said last year. Burger was a state representative at the time and sponsored both last year's and this year's bills.
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