The Department of the Interior announced on Tuesday, Dec. 3, a $849 million investment 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.
The 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.
“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,” said Acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis.
“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.”
The projects selected for funding are found in all the major river basins and regions where the Bureau of 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.
Included in the funding is $1.6 million for a Navajo Dam float well replacement.
The project will replace the float well instrument system within Navajo Dam utilized for measuring and recording reservoir elevations. The current system will be replaced with a new float well system using a plastic material that will not be susceptible to corrosion. Funding is provided for design activities and implementation.
To view a full list of projects selected, visit https://www.usbr.gov/bil/docs/infrastructure/FY-2025-Aging-Infrastucture-Projects.pdf on the Bureau of Reclamation’s website.
As climate change has accelerated over the past two decades, the Colorado River Basin experienced the driest period in the region in more than 1,000 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 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.
