The U.S. Department of the Interior announced $36.1 million in grants to help safeguard local waters supplies across the drought-stricken western U.S.
The grants, which include $26.7 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will fund 27 projects in 12 states and Puerto Rico, according to a July 5 news release. The projects will help "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."
"President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is advancing locally-led initiatives to address severe and historic western drought," DOI Water and Science Assistant Secretary Tanya Trujillo said in the news release. "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."
According to the release, partnerships with local communities will be key in efforts to address regional water challenges, including projects to address damage left by the Caldor Fire in California and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
"Adequate and safe water supplies are fundamental to the health, economy and security of the country," DOI Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said in the release. "By restoring ecosystems and improving the health of rivers and watersheds, we can provide more local communities reliable access to water. These grants invest in water management projects that will directly benefit plant and animal species, fish and wildlife habitat and ecosystems."
According to the release, selected projects are:
- Arizona: the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, Arizona, $560,250 for Roosevelt Watershed protection and forest thinning
- California: El Dorado County Water Agency, more than $1.8 million for Post Caldor Fire Watershed restoration to secure water for the Grizzly Flats Community; Resource Conservation District of Monterey County, more than $1.4 million for Salinas River Arundo Eradication Project Phase V; San Bernadino Valley Municipal Water District, $2 million for Anza Creek Aquatic and Riparian habitat restoration; Marin Municipal Water District, $1.4 million for Lagunitas Creek Stream Channel restoration project
- Colorado: Trout Unlimited, $375,000 for Pagosa Gateway Project; The Nature Conservancy, more than $1.9 million for Maybell Irrigation District's diversion from the Yampa River project
- Hawaii: state DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife, two awards totaling more than $1.9 million for protecting forests for water supply sustainability in Kohala
- Idaho: Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, almost $2 million for Battle Creek ecological restoration at Sowo Gahni; $629,000 for Board of Control for Triangle Irrigation and Wood River and Board of Control Diversion 45 Stabilization and Fish Passage Remediation; $2 million for Friends of the Teton River Inc., for Canyon Creek reconnection
- Montana: Sun River Watershed, more than $1.7 million for Muddy Creek Restoration and Resilience Project, phase 1
- Nevada: Southern Nevada Water Authority, $900,500 for Las Vegas Wash Riparian Restoration Project
- Oregon: Curry Watersheds nonprofit, $268,789 for Sixes Riverbank restoration and estuary enhancement; East Fork Irrigation District, $2 million for Oanna and Yasui sublateral efficiency project; Rogue Valley Council of Governments, $784,151 for Bear Creek fish passage barriers removal
- Puerto Rico: Protectores de Cuencas Inc., $509,694 for accelerating recovery and increasing resiliency of coastal wetlands in Punta Tuna Natural Reserve in Maunabo, Puerto Rico
- Texas: Cameron County Water Improvement District No. 10, $1.5 million for pipeline improvements and Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge water management improvements
- Utah: Trout Unlimited, two grants, $900,798 for Paris Creek hydropower decommissioning and instream flow restoration, and more than $1.8 million for Weber River Ecological Resiliency Project; Cache Water District, $2 million for Lower Logan River Trapper Park River restoration project
- Washington: Clallam County, more than $1.8 million for Dungeness Reservoir Irrigation Conveyance Improvement Project; Clallam Conservation District, more than $1.5 million for an irrigation efficiency and improvement project; Kittitas Reclamation District, $2 million for south branch piping
- Wyoming: Deaver Irrigation District, $2 million for lateral piping and Shoshone River sediment reduction project; Wyoming Game and Fish Department, $100,000 for New Fork River Gas Wells River restoration and fish habitat improvement
