WaterSMART

Previous Grant Selections

2024

Drought Contingency Planning

Biden-Harris Administration announces over $12 million from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for water sustainability projects (December 19, 2024) – The Bureau of Reclamation today announced nearly $12.1 million through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to support collaborative planning and design projects to improve water sustainability and efficiency. Reclamation selected a total of 43 projects in 11 states to receive the funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act and annual appropriations through Reclamation’s WaterSMART program. Read More →

Drought Resiliency Projects

Biden-Harris Administration Delivers $147 Million from Investing in America Agenda for Drought Resiliency and Water Supply Reliability Across the West (May 6, 2024) –The Department of the Interior today announced a $147.6 million investment from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to help communities prepare and respond to water reliability challenges due to drought and other water scarcity concerns. The funding will support 42 projects in ten states. Read More →

2023

Drought Resiliency Projects

Biden-Harris Administration Invests More Than $84 million in 36 Drought Resiliency Projects (December 22, 2022) –The Department of the Interior today announced a $84.7 million investment from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help 36 communities throughout the West prepare and respond to the challenges of drought. The selected projects will help bring clean, reliable drinking water to communities across the West through investments in innovative drought resilience efforts, such as groundwater storage, rainwater harvesting, aquifer recharge, water reuse, ion exchange treatment, and other methods to stretch existing water supplies.Read More →

2022

Drought Contingency Planning

Reclamation approves $865,480 to five western states for drought contingency planning grants to improve long-term drought resiliency (August 2, 2022) – As the western United States faces unprecedented severe drought conditions, the Bureau of Reclamation is announcing the award of six drought planning activities for 2022 WaterSMART: Drought Contingency Planning grants. This program provides federal cost-share funds for entities to develop and update comprehensive drought plans, employing a proactive approach to build long-term resiliency to drought. Read More →

Drought Resiliency Projects

Reclamation approves $20.5 million to build drought resiliency in five states (February 28, 2022) – The Bureau of Reclamation is making its initial 2022 selection of 13 projects for $20.5 million in grants to build long-term drought resiliency. These projects will leverage more than $66.7 million in non-federal funding to complete projects in five states. Read More →

Reclamation approves an additional $17.5 million for drought resiliency projects (March 17, 2022) – The Bureau of Reclamation approved an additional $17.5 million in WaterSMART Drought Resiliency Project grants for ten more projects in the Western United States. These grants will help communities increase their ability to recover from droughts. This funding supplements the prior $20.5 million in WaterSMART grant funding that was announced in January 2022, for a $38 million total federal investment this year in improving drought resiliency in the West. Read More →

2021

Drought Contingency Planning

Reclamation providing $808,912 to California, Nebraska and Utah to prepare for future droughts (April 21, 2021) – The Bureau of Reclamation is awarding $808,912 for projects in the West to prepare for and respond to drought. The WaterSMART Drought Program funding will leverage $811,943 in non-federal cost-share to complete projects in five Western states. Read More →

Drought Resiliency Projects

Reclamation investing $15.4 million to help communities mitigate drought and climate change impacts in Western United States (Feb. 11, 2021) – The Bureau of Reclamation is awarding $15.4 million for projects in the West to prepare for and respond to drought. The WaterSMART Drought Program funding will leverage $54.9 million in non-federal cost-share to complete projects in seven Western states. Read More →

2020

Drought Contingency Planning

Reclamation provides $710,771 in grants for drought planning to four entities in California and Montana (April 17, 2020) – The Bureau of Reclamation has chosen four projects to share $710,771 for the development of a drought contingency plan or to update an existing plan. These drought contingency plans help communities proactively plan for the next drought to reduce or mitigate potential impacts. The four selected projects all required a match for this grant program. Read More →

Drought Resiliency Projects

Reclamation awards $7.5 million for communities to prepare and respond to drought (March 12, 2020) – Through a competitive process, the Bureau of Reclamation has selected 12 projects in the states of California, New Mexico and Utah to receive $7.5 million in drought resiliency grants as part of the WaterSMART Drought Response Program. Drought resiliency helps communities increase the reliability of their water supplies, improve water management and provide benefits to fish, wildlife and the environment. Read More →

2019

Drought Resiliency Projects

Bureau of Reclamation selects 18 projects to receive $9 million in WaterSMART grants to prepare and build resilience to drought (June 20, 2019) – Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman announced that 18 projects will receive a total of $9 million to prepare for drought. These projects will provide more flexibility and reliability for communities while reducing the need for emergency actions during a drought. The funding provided is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior's WaterSMART Program.

2018

Drought Contingency Planning

Bureau of Reclamation provides $260,000 for two WaterSMART drought contingency planning projects (May 22, 2018) – Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman announced that the El Dorado County Water Agency and Jordan Valley Water Conservancy District will receive $260,000, combined, to prepare drought contingency plans. The funding provided is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior's WaterSMART initiative. Read More →

Drought Resiliency Projects

Bureau of Reclamation awards $8.3 Million to 15 drought resiliency projects (June 26, 2018) – Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman announced that Reclamation has awarded $8.3 million to 15 projects in California, New Mexico and Utah for the preparation and response to drought. The types of projects selected increase water management flexibility and water supply reliability. These projects also reduce the need for drought emergency response actions. The funding provided is part of the U.S. Department of the Interior's WaterSMART initiative. Read More →

2017

Drought Resiliency Projects & Contingency Planning

Department of the Interior Awards $6.9 Million to 17 Projects for Drought Preparation (June 30, 2017) – U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced today that the Bureau of Reclamation is awarding 17 projects in California, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma, and Montana a total of $6.9 million to proactively prepare for and address drought in their communities. The federal funding will be leveraged to support more than $47.9 million for the development of drought contingency plans and implementation of drought resiliency projects. Read More →

2016

Drought Resiliency Projects

Interior, USDA Announce More Than $47 Million in Investments for Water Conservation, Energy Efficiency, Drought Response & Agriculture Operations Across the West (June 23, 2016) – The U.S. Departments of Interior and Agriculture today announced more than $47 million in investments to help water districts and producers on private working lands better conserve water resources. The funds include $15 million in USDA funds and $32.6 million from the Bureau of Reclamation for local projects to improve water and energy efficiency and provide a strengthened federal response to ongoing and potential drought across 13 states in the West. Read More →

2015

Drought Resiliency Projects

Reclamation Selects 23 Projects Totaling $5.2 Million to Build Drought Resiliency in Nine States (Aug 12, 2015) – Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Estevan López has announced the selection of 23 projects to receive grants totaling $5.2 million for proactive drought planning and other efforts to build long-term drought resiliency in nine states in the West. Read More →