Investments will restore aquatic habitats and watersheds and support disaster recovery efforts
WASHINGTON -- The Department of the Interior today announced a $36.1 million investment, including $26.7 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds, to safeguard local water supplies in the wake of record drought across the West.
Twenty-seven projects in 12 states and the first-ever in Puerto Rico will be awarded funding to advance quantifiable and sustained water savings by protecting watersheds impacted by wildland fire, restoring aquatic habitats and stream beds, and advancing other environmental restoration projects to mitigate drought-related impacts. These investments will be leveraged through partnerships with local communities to address regional water challenges, including projects to address damage left by the Caldor Fire in California and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. These funds follow a $25.5 million investment announced last month allocated for 14 water efficiency projects across eight western states.
"President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is advancing locally-led initiatives to address severe and historic western drought," said Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo. "Through the Water Smart program funded under this law, we are addressing a variety of regional challenges to increase water reliability and accessibility for families, farmers and Tribes. Today’s investment will conserve water, restore riparian habitat and stream function, and improve watershed health to benefit local supplies and the surrounding environment."
"Adequate and safe water supplies are fundamental to the health, economy and security of the country. By restoring ecosystems and improving the health of rivers and watersheds, we can provide more local communities reliable access to water," said Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. "These grants invest in water management projects that will directly benefit plant and animal species, fish and wildlife habitat and ecosystems."
Overall, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests $8.3 billion to address water and drought challenges for the nation’s western water and power infrastructure by repairing aging water delivery systems, securing dams, completing rural water projects, protecting aquatic ecosystems and fulfilling Indian Water Rights Settlements.
The funding announced today is part of the $160 million in WaterSMART grants provided by the Law in 2022. Local governments in states set to receive funding must complete their project within three years. Through a 25 percent cost-share, a total of $56.2 million in federal and non-federal investments will be leveraged to support selected projects.
For more than 100 years, Reclamation and its partners have developed sustainable water and power solutions for the West. This Department's WaterSMART Program focuses on collaborative efforts to plan and implement actions to increase water supply sustainability, including investments to modernize infrastructure.
More information about the Environmental Water Restoration Projects is available on Reclamation’s website.
|
Recipient |
State |
Title |
Federal Funding |
|
Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District |
AZ |
Roosevelt Watershed Protection and Forest Thinning Project |
$560,250 |
|
Marin Municipal Water District |
CA |
Lagunitas Creek Stream Channel Restoration Project |
$1,400,000 |
|
San Bernadino Valley Municipal Water District |
CA |
Anza Creek Aquatic and Riparian Habitat Restoration Project |
$2,000,000 |
|
Resource Conservation District of Monterey County |
CA |
Salinas River Arundo Eradication Project Phase V |
$1,479,262 |
|
El Dorado County Water Agency |
CA |
Post Caldor Fire Watershed Restoration for Securing Water Supply for the Grizzly Flats Community |
$1,875,000 |
|
The Nature Conservancy |
CO |
Modernization of the Maybell Irrigation District's Diversion from the Yampa River in Colorado |
$1,920,900 |
|
Trout Unlimited |
CO |
Pagosa Gateway Project |
$375,000 |
|
State of Hawai'i DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife |
HI |
Protecting Forests for Water Supply Sustainability in Kohala Hawaii Phase 1 |
$996,487 |
|
State of Hawai'i DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife |
HI |
Protecting Forests for Water Supply Sustainability in Kohala Hawaii Phase 2 |
$931,783 |
|
Friends of the Teton River, Inc. |
ID |
Reconnecting Canyon Creek |
$2,000,000 |
|
Board of Control for Triangle Irrigation and Wood River |
ID |
Board of Control Diversion 45 Stabilization and Fish Passage Remediation |
$629,000 |
|
The Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation |
ID |
Battle Creek Ecological Restoration at Sowo Gahni |
$1,999,711 |
|
Sun River Watershed |
MT |
Muddy Creek Restoration and Resilience Project Phase I |
$1,769,323 |
|
Southern Nevada Water Authority |
NV |
Las Vegas Wash Riparian Restoration Project |
$900,500 |
|
Rogue Valley Council of Governments |
OR |
Bear Creek Fish Passage Barriers Removal |
$784,151 |
|
East Fork Irrigation District |
OR |
Oanna & Yasui Sublateral Efficiency Project |
$2,000,000 |
|
Curry Watersheds Nonprofit |
OR |
Sixes Riverbank Restoration and Estuary Enhancement |
$268,789 |
|
Protectores de Cuencas Inc |
PR |
Accelerating Recovery and Increasing Resiliency of Coastal Wetlands in Punta Tuna Natural Reserve in Maunabo Puerto Rico |
$509,694 |
|
Cameron County Water Improvement District No. 10 |
TX |
Pipeline Improvements and Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge Water Management Improvements |
$1,500,000 |
|
Cache Water District |
UT |
Lower Logan River Trapper Park River Restoration Project |
$2,000,000 |
|
Trout Unlimited |
UT |
Weber River Ecological Resiliency Project |
$1,864,032 |
|
Trout Unlimited |
UT |
Paris Creek Hydropower Decommissioning and Instream Flow Restoration |
$900,798 |
|
Kittitas Reclamation District |
WA |
South Branch Piping |
$2,000,000 |
|
Clallam Conservation District |
WA |
Irrigation Efficiency and Improvement Project |
$1,535,937 |
|
Clallam County |
WA |
Dungeness Reservoir Irrigation Conveyance Improvement Project |
$1,813,275 |
|
Wyoming Game and Fish Department |
WY |
New Fork River Gas Wells River Restoration and Fish Habitat Improvement |
$100,000 |
|
Deaver Irrigation District |
WY |
D52 Lateral Piping and Shoshone River Sediment Reduction Project |
$2,000,000 |
More information, including details about other current opportunities to apply for funding available under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is available on Reclamation's WaterSMART program webpage.
