This story by Chase Woodruff appeared on Colorado Newsline on December 4, 2024.
The U.S. Department of the Interior announced this week that it has awarded a total of $849 million to repair and improve water infrastructure projects across 11 Western states.
The funding includes $118.3 million for 14 projects located in the Colorado River Basin, where federal officials and state negotiators are weighing high-stakes decisions about the future management of the river ahead of the 2026 expiration of current operating guidelines.
The funding comes from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Aging Infrastructure Account, which received a $3 billion boost from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The program funds repairs and upgrades to existing water storage infrastructure, hydropower generation and treatment plants.
“President Biden’s Investing in America agenda provides transformational resources to safeguard clean, reliable water for families, farmers and Tribes,” Laura Daniel-Davis, the Interior Department’s acting deputy secretary, said in a statement. “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.”
The Colorado River provides water supplies to more than 40 million people across the Southwest, and irrigates about 15% of U.S. agricultural land. A climate change-fueled drought has affected the basin since 2000, substantially decreasing flows below the historical averages on which the century-old Colorado River Compact’s state-by-state water allocations are based.
A series of interim guidelines for managing the basin’s water amid continuing shortages were enacted by the Bureau of Reclamation in 2007, but they will expire in 2026. Citing “ongoing conversations and collaborations with all Basin stakeholders,” the agency last month released a set five alternative proposals that will be analyzed and could form the basis of a post-2026 plan — but finalizing new guidelines will now fall to the incoming Trump administration.
The funding announced by the Biden administration this week includes $34 million for several projects relating to the Blue Mesa Reservoir in Gunnison County, including a $32 million award for the replacement and refurbishing of equipment in the Blue Mesa Dam’s small hydropower plant. Other Colorado projects include $20 million in improvements to the Mt. Elbert Forebay reservoir near Twin Lakes, $4.6 million for infrastructure connected to Turquoise Lake and $3 million in safety upgrades for the Upper Molina Power Plant, a small hydroelectric unit near Grand Mesa.
“Our water is too precious to waste even a drop on outdated infrastructure meant to deliver and conserve our water supplies,” U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper, a Colorado Democrat, said in a statement. “Our (Bipartisan Infrastructure Law) is fixing that. These updates will help save water and make us more resilient to drought.”
Projects in other Western states awarded funding include:
- $204 million for correcting subsidence impacts caused by the Delta–Mendota Canal in California’s Central Valley
- $143 million for reconfiguring water infrastructure in the San Acacia Reach, a 60-mile stretch of the Rio Grande downstream from the San Acacia Diversion Dam south of Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Two awards totaling $28.3 million to replace and refurbish equipment in the hydropower station within the Glen Canyon Dam, which forms Lake Powell in northern Arizona
- Three awards totaling over $27 million for the replacement of water mains and other infrastructure on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in northern North Dakota
- $37.2 million to replace the St. Mary and Halls Coulee siphons in northern Montana, critical canal infrastructure that suffered a catastrophic failure earlier this year
A full list of the 77 newly funded projects is available on the Bureau of Reclamation’s website.
“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 Sánchez. “These facilities are essential to the West as they provide water for families, farms and Tribal communities, while … also producing hydropower and recreation opportunities for communities throughout the Basin.”