WASHINGTON, D.C.-Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that Interior's Bureau of Reclamation is providing $2.4 million in funding for comprehensive water studies in California, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
The funding comes through the Department of the Interior's WaterSMART Basin Study Program. This program provides leadership and tools to states and local communities to address current or projected imbalances between water supply and demand and to work toward sustainable solutions. In addition to the federal funding, $3.9 million will be provided by non-federal partners for a total of more than $6.3 million.
"WaterSMART is a perfect example of the value of strong partnerships that bring Interior together with local water and conservation managers to create sustainable water supplies in the West," Secretary Salazar said. "Rivers are the lifeblood of our communities. As we work together to study these complex river basins, we can explore options to help guide water management and administration for the future and ensure the health of our vital ecosystems for coming generations."
The selected projects are the Los Angeles Basin in California; the Pecos River Basin in New Mexico; the Republican River Basin in Colorado, Kansas and Nebraska; the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Basins in California and the Upper Washita River Basin in Oklahoma.
"The collaboration that takes place during the development of a basin study is a fundamental goal of President Obama's America's Great Outdoors initiative," Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael L. Connor added. "Through America's Great Outdoors, we are developing lasting conservation solutions that are supported by the American people. In the case of two of the basin studies, the findings will be woven into the Department of the Interior's River initiative as part of the 50-state America's Great Outdoors conservation and recreation agenda."
Specifically, the Los Angeles Basin and Sacramento-San Joaquin Basin have projects within their boundaries that were identified in the America's Great Outdoors 50-State Report released in November 2011.
Basin studies are comprehensive water studies that define options for meeting future water demands in river basins in the western United States where imbalances in water supply and demand exist or are projected to exist. Each study consists of four key segments:
* State-of-the-art projections of future supply and demand in the river basin;
* An analysis of how the basin's existing water and power operations and infrastructure will perform in the face of changing water realities;
* Development of options to improve operations and infrastructure to supply adequate water in the future; and
* Analysis of the options identified to arrive at findings and recommendations about how to optimize operations and infrastructure in a basin to supply adequate water in the future.
The non-federal partners in a basin study must contribute at least 50 percent of the total study cost in non-federal funding or in-kind services. Basin studies are not financial assistance and Reclamation's share of the study costs may be used only to support work done by Reclamation or its contractors. Non-federal partners include state and city agencies, municipal water districts, flood control districts, foundations, conservation groups, and civic organizations.
The WaterSMART Program addresses increasing water supply challenges, including chronic water shortages due to population growth, climate variability and change and growing competition for finite water supplies. Through the basin studies program, Reclamation will work cooperatively with state and local partners in the 17 western states to evaluate future water supply and demand imbalances, assess the risks and impacts of climate change on water resources and develop potential mitigation and adaptation strategies to meet future demands.
For specific information on the WaterSMART Basin Studies, please visit www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/bsp. For information on the WaterSMART Program, please visit www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
