Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Estevan López has announced the selection of 23 projects to receive grants totaling $5.2 million for proactive drought planning and other efforts to build long-term drought resiliency in nine states in the West.
“The western United States has faced an unprecedented drought this year and will face many more water challenges in the future,” Commissioner López said. “This funding will help the selected communities prepare for future droughts.”
Through a competitive process, Reclamation selected 12 drought resiliency projects and 11 drought contingency planning projects in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Washington.
Drought resiliency projects, also referred to as ‘mitigation actions,’ help communities prepare for and respond to drought. The 12 drought resiliency projects will receive a total of $3.4 million.
Of the $3.4 million set aside for drought resiliency projects, the Merced Irrigation District in California will receive $297,977 to develop a real-time simulation water management model that will help the district analyze, predict and respond to drought conditions. The district will also install two weather stations and two river gage stations to collect water supply data on precipitation, flows, temperature and system losses.
Drought contingency plans help communities recognize drought in its early stages, identify the effects of drought and conduct drought prevention activities. Reclamation also selected 11 drought contingency planning projects to receive a total of $1.8 million.
In California, $200,000 is going to the East Bay Municipal Utility District for the Bay Area Regional Reliability Drought Contingency Plan. The utility district will work with other regional water management agencies within the Bay Area to develop a drought contingency plan to improve water supply reliability during times of shortage.
For more than 100 years, Reclamation and its partners have worked to develop a sustainable water and power future for the West. This drought response program is part of the Department of the Interior’s WaterSMART Program, which focuses on improving water conservation and sustainability, while helping water resource managers make sound decisions about water use.
To find out more information about the WaterSMART program, visit www.usbr.gov/watersmart. For more about the Reclamation’s Drought Response Program or selected projects, please visit www.usbr.gov/drought.
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Reclamation is the largest wholesale water supplier in the United States, and the nation’s second largest producer of hydroelectric power. Its facilities also provide substantial flood control, recreation, and fish and wildlife benefits. Visit our website at http://www.usbr.gov and follow us on Twitter @USBR.
Drought Resiliency Project Grants
Arizona
(Phoenix) City of Phoenix, Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) Well Restoration Program – Deer Valley Water Treatment Plant, $300,000
California
(Irvine) Irvine Ranch Water District, Irvine Lake Pipeline Conversion Project, $300,000
(Merced) Merced Irrigation District, Drought Protection Water Management Tool, $297,977
(Porterville) Tule River Tribe, Painted Rock Improvements Project, $261,053
(Stockton) Stockton East Water District, Southeast Recharge Basin, North Site Project, $300,000
(Wasco) Semitropic Water Storage District, Groundwater Well Extraction Improvements for Return of Stored Water, $300,000
Idaho
(Homedale) South Board of Control, Improvement of Gem Irrigation District #2 Pumping Plant, $300,000
Nevada
(Las Vegas) Southern Nevada Water Authority, Lake Mead Water Quality Monitoring to Mitigate Impacts Caused by Drought, $300,000
Oklahoma
(Duncan) City of Duncan, Clear Creek Lake Improvements Project, $300,000
(Waurika) Waurika Lake Master Conservancy District, Waurika Lake Water Intake Channel Improvement Project, $300,000
Texas
(Austin) Texas Water Development Board, Early Warning Drought Tool, $144,763
(Brownsville) Southmost Regional Water Authority, Well Field Monitoring Project, $300,000
Drought Contingency Planning Grants
California
(Auburn) Placer County Water Agency, Regional Drought Contingency Plan, $200,000
Plan, $200,000
(Lake Elsinore) Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, Drought Contingency Plan, $115,000
(Monterey) Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, North Monterey County Drought Contingency Plan, $200,000
(Oakland) East Bay Municipal Utility District, Bay Area Regional Reliability Drought Contingency
Colorado
(Dolores) Dolores Water Conservancy District, Dolores Project Drought Contingency Plan, $100,000
Nevada
(Reno) Truckee Meadows Water Authority, Development of a Dynamic Drought Contingency Support Management System, $109,095
Oklahoma
(Ada/Durant) Chickasaw and Choctaw Nations, Regional Drought Contingency Plan for the Arbuckle Simpson Aquifer Region, $187,081
(Foss) Foss Reservoir Master Conservancy District, Drought Contingency Plan, $200,000
Oregon
(Stayton) Santiam Water Control District, North Santiam Watershed Drought Contingency Plan, $199,540
Texas
(Waco) McLennan County, McLennan County Drought Contingency and Water Supply Resiliency Plan, $75,000
Washington
(Olympia) Washington State Department of Ecology, Update of State Drought Contingency Plan, $172,409
