/ Water / President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Help Safeguard Water Supplies in 12 States and Puerto Rico

President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Help Safeguard Water Supplies in 12 States and Puerto Rico

Parul Dubey on July 5, 2022 - in Water

Investments will restore aquatic habitats and watersheds and support disaster recovery efforts

WASHINGTON â€” 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.

Selected projects:

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

About the U.S. Department of the Interior

The Department of the Interior (DOI) conserves and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people, provides scientific and other information about natural resources and natural hazards to address societal challenges and create opportunities for the American people, and honors the Nation’s trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities to help them prosper.

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