Biden-Harris Administration Announces Nearly $850 Million to Revitalize Aging Water Infrastructure, Advance Drought Resilience

Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Contact: Interior_Press@ios.doi.gov

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced a $849 million investment from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to revitalize aging water delivery systems across the West. The funding supports 77 projects in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Washington to improve water conveyance and storage, increase safety, improve hydropower generation, and provide water treatment. This includes 14 projects totaling $118.3 million in the Colorado River Basin.

Today’s announcement follows the release of five alternatives earlier this month that will be analyzed as part of the Post-2026 Operations for the Colorado River Basin. Since Day One of the Biden-Harris administration, the Department has led critical discussions over how to bring the Colorado River back from the brink of crisis in the face of an unprecedented 24-year drought. Having achieved overwhelming success in 2023 on interim operation plans to guide operations through 2026 with a historic consensus agreement, and following more than a year of collaboration with the states and Tribes who call the Colorado River Basin home, the release of alternatives is the next step in a responsible path to guide post-2026 operations for the Colorado River.

“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda provides transformational resources to safeguard clean, reliable water for families, farmers and Tribes,” said Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis. “As we work to address record drought and changing climate conditions in the Colorado River Basin and throughout the West, these investments in our aging water infrastructure will conserve community water supplies and revitalize water delivery systems.”

“Reclamation is committed to utilizing these historic investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to revitalize our infrastructure for continued reliability and sustainability for the next generation,” said Bureau of Reclamation Deputy Commissioner Roque Sanchez. “These facilities are essential to the West as they provide water for families, farms and Tribal communities, while also and producing hydropower and recreation opportunities for communities throughout the Basin.”

Deputy Commissioner Sanchez visited the Lower San Acacia Reach Improvements project in New Mexico today, which will receive $143 million to realign the Rio Grande for improved water conveyance and to provide a long-term strategy to better manage sediment. Senior Advisor John Watts also visited the Delta Mendota Canal Subsidence Correction project in California today, which is receiving $204 million to address structural impacts to the canal from dropping groundwater levels.

The projects selected for funding today are found in all the major river basins and regions where Reclamation operates. Among the 77 projects selected for funding are efforts to restore canal capacity, sustain water treatment for Tribes, replace equipment for hydropower production and provide necessary maintenance to aging project buildings.

The Biden-Harris administration has led a comprehensive effort to make Western communities more resilient to climate change and address the ongoing megadrought across the region by harnessing the full resources of President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda. As climate change has accelerated over the past two decades, the Colorado River Basin experienced the driest period in the region in over one thousand years. Together, the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provide the largest investment in climate resilience in our nation’s history, including $15.4 billion for western water across federal agencies to enhance the West’s resilience to drought and deliver unprecedented resources to protect the Colorado River System for all whose lives and livelihoods depend on it. This includes $5.35 billion for over 577 projects in the Colorado River Basin states alone.

To view a full list of projects selected as part of today’s announcement, visit Bureau of Reclamation’s website.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of a USDA funding announcement for additional water savings in the Basin, illustrating the whole-of-government approach undertaken by the Biden-Harris Administration to assist the Colorado River Basin to achieve a more resilient and sustainable water supply.

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