News Release Archive

Reclamation Awards $1.6 Million in Water Use Efficiency Grants in California During Fiscal Year 2007

Media Contact: Jeffrey McCracken, 916-978-5100, jmccracken@mp.usbr.gov

For Release: September 04, 2007

The Bureau of Reclamation awarded $1.6 million in Federal funds for the CALFED Water Use Efficiency Grants Program in fiscal year (FY) 2007.  With the combined local cost-share contributions, more than $4.1 million in water management improvements will be implemented during the next 24 months.  It is estimated that these projects will help conserve or better manage 85,000 acre-feet of water per year, thus significantly contributing to the CALFED objectives of improving ecosystem health, water supply reliability, and water quality.

Projects were selected through a competitive process, and priority consideration was given to projects that addressed CALFED Bay-Delta Program goals on a Statewide basis.  Reclamation awarded six urban and five agricultural projects, geographically spanning California from Willows to San Diego.  FY07 grants include:

Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District:  The district will install a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) monitoring system and flow measurement devices to monitor district outflow.  This project targets 12 locations where 80 percent of the drain water leaves the districts boundaries.

Natomas Central Mutual Water Company:  The water company will install a SCADA system to monitor water levels at eight different locations in the Natomas Basin in Sacramento and Sutter Counties.  This will provide accurate water-level data using precision sensors and transducers interfaced with SCADA hardware.

San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority:  The water authority will install electronic open-channel flow meters.  The new flow meters will provide real-time flow measurements from the Mendota Pool.

Solano Irrigation District:  The district will improve flow-rate measurement by installing a SCADA monitoring system and state-of-the-art water-level sensors.

Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority:  The district will modernize turnouts by replacing venturi meters with Doppler technology.

City of Firebaugh:  The city will install water meters in all housing units that are not currently billed by volume or regulated by meters.

East Bay Municipal Utility District:  The district will retrofit customer meters with an automatic meter- reading system to collect real-time demand data.  Electronic registers will collect, record, and transmit hourly water consumption. 

Municipal Water District of Orange County:  The district will create a commercial and residential landscape survey program for 924 commercial and 540 residential customers to review irrigation controller scheduling and conduct irrigation system evaluations, including distribution uniformity and recommendations for repair.

San Diego County Water Authority:  The water authority will develop a Smart Landscape Grant Program, which will provide financial assistance to commercial and multi-family sites for upgrading irrigation hardware. 

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission:  The commission will replace 1,000 high-water-volume toilets with high-efficiency toilets.  This is a direct installation program for low-income housing units. 

West Basin Municipal Water District:  The district will implement a Green Garden Program, which includes residential landscape surveys and a smart irrigation controller and sprinkler exchange program.

For more information on the CALFED Water Use Efficiency Grants Program, please contact Ms. Sheri Looper, Water Conservation Specialist, at slooper@mp.usbr.gov or 916-978-5219.

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The Bureau of Reclamation is a federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior and is the nation's largest wholesale water supplier and second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Our facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation opportunities, and environmental benefits. Visit our website at https://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR; Facebook @bureau.of.reclamation; LinkedIn @Bureau of Reclamation; Instagram @bureau_of_reclamation; and YouTube @reclamation.