WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:04.080 Hi, I'm Jane Rodgers, Superintendent  of Joshua Tree National Park,   00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:08.720 and you're watching This Week at Interior! 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:11.800 This Week at Interior 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:16.160 Secretary Haaland this week led the U.S.  delegation to the Fourth International   00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:21.960 Conference on Small Island Developing States  in St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda. The visit   00:00:21.960 --> 00:00:26.520 underscored the United States’ partnership with  small island developing states, and commitment   00:00:26.520 --> 00:00:31.120 to advancing their sustainable development for  a resilient and prosperous future in the face   00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:36.840 of challenges like the climate-related impacts  of sea-level rise and extreme weather events. 00:00:36.840 --> 00:00:42.440 Interior this week announced more than $30 million  from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda   00:00:42.440 --> 00:00:48.840 for Arkansas and Louisiana to clean up legacy  pollution. Louisiana will use its $25 million   00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:55.880 award to plug and reclaim 540 orphaned oil and gas  wells -- Arkansas is receiving a more than $5.5   00:00:55.880 --> 00:01:02.520 million award, to plug and reclaim approximately  274 orphaned well sites. The investments will   00:01:02.520 --> 00:01:08.400 help create good-paying union jobs, catalyze  economic growth and revitalization, help protect   00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:14.440 public health and the environment from harmful  methane leaks, and advance environmental justice. 00:01:14.440 --> 00:01:19.680 Interior this week announced a $242 million  investment through the Bureau of Reclamation   00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:24.960 from the President’s Investing in America agenda  that will bring clean, reliable drinking water to   00:01:24.960 --> 00:01:30.240 communities across the West through five water  storage and conveyance projects. The projects   00:01:30.240 --> 00:01:36.240 in California, Colorado and Washington are  expected to add at least 1.6 million acre-feet   00:01:36.240 --> 00:01:42.840 of additional water storage capacity, enough  water to support 6.4 million people for a year. 00:01:42.840 --> 00:01:47.880 Interior also announced a $179 million  investment through the Investing in America   00:01:47.880 --> 00:01:53.360 agenda for innovative water reuse projects that  strengthen drought resilience across the West,   00:01:53.360 --> 00:01:58.160 increasing water security and resilience  across western communities. Funding from   00:01:58.160 --> 00:02:02.960 the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law through the  Bureau of Reclamation will support four projects   00:02:02.960 --> 00:02:09.720 in California and Utah to help communities create  new sources of water to support water reliability. 00:02:09.720 --> 00:02:13.960 The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management this  week advanced two wind energy projects   00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:19.520 offshore New Jersey that, if approved, could  generate about 2,800 megawatts of electricity,   00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:25.240 enough to power almost 1 million homes. BOEM also  moved ahead with an offshore wind research lease   00:02:25.240 --> 00:02:31.200 in the Gulf of Maine to research floating offshore  wind energy technology and its deployment. Since   00:02:31.200 --> 00:02:35.200 the start of the Biden-Harris administration,  Interior has approved the nation's first   00:02:35.200 --> 00:02:40.680 eight commercial-scale offshore wind energy  projects, enough to power 4 million homes. 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:45.120 As West Virginia's Canaan Valley National  Wildlife Refuge gets ready to mark its 30th   00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:51.000 birthday this summer, it's already celebrating  a 1,900 acre expansion. Thanks to The Nature   00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:57.040 Conservancy and Land and Water Conservation  Fund, the refuge has acquired the Big Cove area,   00:02:57.040 --> 00:03:02.640 increasing public access to hunting, fishing and  recreation, and helping to secure the area’s clean   00:03:02.640 --> 00:03:08.360 water supply through increased protection of the  largest intact wetlands complex in the state. 00:03:08.360 --> 00:03:11.480 And our social media Picture of  the Week...if it's not one thing,   00:03:11.480 --> 00:03:15.280 it's an otter...one of nature’s  most social and playful creatures,   00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:20.400 river otters have big personalities and  even bigger appetites. Often seen in groups,   00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:26.600 called romps, they can be observed frolicking, and  hunting year-round at Grand Teton National Park. 00:03:26.600 --> 00:03:31.280 Make sure you follow us on Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:40.120 That's This Week at Interior!