News Release Archive

Reclamation Awards $500,000 in CALFED Water Use Efficiency Grants

Media Contact: Pete Lucero, 916-978-5100, plucero@usbr.gov

For Release: August 31, 2010

The Bureau of Reclamation awarded $500,000 for the CALFED Water Use Efficiency Grant Program in Fiscal Year 2010. With combined local cost shares, more than $15 million in water management improvement projects will be implemented in the next 24 months. It is estimated that greater than 40,000 acre-feet of water will be better managed or conserved per year as a result of the awarded projects. This will contribute to the CALFED Program objectives to improve 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 a total of five projects, in California from near San Francisco in Northern California to San Diego in Southern California. Fiscal Year 2010 grants include:

City of Anaheim - The city utilities department will replace 70 irrigation system controllers and 40,252 conventional sprinkler heads with modern, centralized weather-based controllers and rotary nozzles. The project will improve water management through the use of new technologies in the Anaheim Resort District and Convention Center area. The project expects to conserve approximately 3,674 acre-feet over a 20-year period.

Contra Costa Water District - The district will continue a High-Efficiency Toilet (HET) Voucher Program, which will provide instant rebates to customers who participate. The goal of the program is to replace 1,620 inefficient toilets to save 1,000 acre-feet of water over a 20-year period.

East Bay Municipal Utility District - The goal of the district's WaterSmart High-Efficiency Toilet (HET) Rebate Program is to promote consumer acceptance of products that exceed existing water efficiency standards through the installation of 5,000 HETs over a two-year period. The water savings are estimated to be 2,000 acre-feet over the 20-year life of the fixtures or 100 acre-feet per year.

City of San Diego - The city will employ an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) project to replace 10 percent of the total manual-read meters with an automated system capable of collecting more accurate data on a near-real time basis. The city anticipates the AMI technology will improve water management and provide customers with a tool to monitor their water consumption. The water savings are estimated to be 3,050 acre-feet over the 20-year life of the system.

San Luis and Delta Mendota Water Authority - The water authority will construct a Doppler-Type flow measurement project at the O'Neill Pump/Generating Plant.

Having accurate flow measurement throughout the O'Neil Pump/Generating Plant/Delta-Mendota Canal and related facilities will provide improved water accounting and allow for improved water management of the limited water supply south of the Delta. The project will reduce losses by 2 percent to 5 percent, conserving approximately 20,000 to 50,000 acre-feet of water each year for the 25-year life of the project.

The CALFED Bay-Delta Program is a 30-year Program (2000-2030) among 25 federal and state agencies with responsibility in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The program is based on four major resource management objectives that guide its actions to achieving a Delta that has a healthy ecosystem and can supply Californians with a reliable water supply. Those objectives are levee system integrity, water quality, water supply reliability, and ecosystem restoration. Reclamation plays a key role as the lead federal agency for implementation of water supply reliability actions in coordination with our state and other federal CALFED partner agencies.

For more information on the CALFED Water Use Efficiency Program, please contact Anna Sutton, at 916-978-5215 or e-mail asutton@usbr.gov.

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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.