WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Bureau of Reclamation, an agency of The Department of the
Interior, has awarded contracts totaling $3 million under the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for strengthening of the Bosque del Apache levee, bankline
improvements in the Bernalillo area and survey activities of the Low Flow Conveyance Channel
along the Middle Rio Grande near San Marcial, New Mexico.
"The $3 million investment of recovery funds made by the Department of the Interior through
President Obama's economic recovery plan will enable local contractors to raise and widen more
than four miles of the Bosque del Apache levee system within and north of Bosque del Apache
National Wildlife Refuge, stockpile riprap for future bank protection projects, and complete
construction surveys of more than 60 miles of the Low Flow Conveyance Channel located along
the Middle Rio Grande," said Reclamation Commissioner Michael L. Connor.
The Low Flow Conveyance Channel is a water delivery canal that runs alongside the Rio Grande
between San Acacia, New Mexico and Elephant Butte Reservoir. The Bureau of Reclamation
built the low-flow channel as part of the Middle Rio Grande Project to provide more effective
water and sediment transport and improve drainage and return flows of irrigation water from
contiguous farmland.
The Low Flow Conveyance Channel also serves as the Bosque del Apache National
Wildlife Refuge's main source of water; water flowing out of the low-flow channel also sustains
marshes and wetlands below San Marcial, New Mexico.
For the past few years, Reclamation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, City of Albuquerque,
State Forestry Division, Friends of the Bosque del Apache NWR and the Pueblo of Santa Ana
have been doing their parts to restore more than 2,600 acres of wetland habitat along the Middle
Rio Grande from El Ranchito to the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Endangered
species, including the silvery minnow and Southwest Willow flycatcher, will continue to benefit
from the groups collective restoration efforts.
The ARRA funding awards announced by Reclamation today are:
* $200,000 for 60 miles of as-built surveys of the Low Flow Conveyance Channel starting
at San Acacia Dam to River Mile 60
* $2 million for loading, hauling and dumping of approximately 100,000 tons of borrow
and fill material for strengthening a four mile stretch of the Bosque del Apache Levee
system
* $800,000 for procurement of 16,000 tons of riprap material for use in bank protection
along the Rio Grande near Bernalillo, New Mexico
The purposes of the ARRA are, among others, to quickly and prudently commence activities
which preserve and create jobs, promote economic recovery, and to invest in infrastructure by
providing long-term economic benefits. Recovery Act funding must be obligated by Sept. 30,
2010.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar has committed to quick and responsible implementation of
the $3 billion in recovery funds, which will be used by the Department of the Interior and its
agencies.
Secretary Salazar has pledged unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability in the
implementation of the Department of the Interior's economic recovery projects. The public will
be able to follow the progress of each project on www.recovery.gov and on
www.interior.gov/recovery.
Secretary Salazar has appointed a Senior Advisor for Economic Recovery, Chris Henderson, and
an Interior Economic Recovery Task Force. Henderson and the Task Force will work closely
with the Department of the Interior's Inspector General to ensure that the recovery program is
meeting the high standards for accountability, responsibility and transparency that President
Obama has set.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
