The Biden administration will put nearly $600 million toward drought resilience and upgrades to water infrastructure, Interior Department officials announced Wednesday.
The administration will disperse nearly $585 million in funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to 83 water projects in 11 states, Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau said on a call with reporters.
Every major river basin under the Bureau of Reclamation’s (BOR) jurisdiction is represented in the projects selected, according to the Interior Department, with funding going to Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota and Washington projects.
The projects include those aimed at improving water treatment infrastructure for tribal nations, upgrading hydropower equipment and project buildings, and replacing aging components. The largest single award will go to California’s Central Valley, set to receive $65.9 million to modernize the Trinity River Fish Hatchery, where building infrastructure has remained in continuous use for six decades. This includes funds to replace corroded piping, upgrade the filtration system and install a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system.
Beaudreau, speaking from the Imperial Dam on the California/Arizona border, presented the funds as part of ongoing efforts by the federal government to address the two-decade drought that has taken a toll on the west in general and the states in the Colorado River Basin in particular.
“Right now even with this winter snowpack and rainfall, most of the American West, including the Colorado River basin, is in the midst of a 23-year drought,” he said. “By working together I’m confident we can provide much-needed relief to communities across the West[.]”
Infrastructure legislation passed under the Biden administration has put just under $13 billion toward drought resilience and water infrastructure. This includes $4.6 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act and $8.3 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for BOR projects, which the administration has collectively touted as the largest government investment in drought resilience in U.S. history.
The Interior Department previously allocated $240 million for water infrastructure upgrades through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for fiscal 2022.