Two California Projects Awarded Reclamation/CALFED Water Use Efficiency Grants for Reliability

The Bureau of Reclamation recently awarded two $500,000 in CALFED Water Use Efficiency grants to two California projects for what is expected to conserve approximately 4,000 acre-feet annually and improve infrastructure for fiscal year 2020.  Along with cost-share contributions, these projects at the Shafter-Wasco Irrigation District (SWID) and the South San Joaquin Municipal Utility District (SSJMUD) are expected to implement about $2.7 million in water management improvements during the next two years.

THE SWID will install a new 27-inch pipeline along a 1.5-mile alignment in Shafter, connect a pipeline to an existing neighboring district pipeline and then bank this water for future drought conditions. This banked water will help mitigate alleviate some of the groundwater basin overdraft as well as on-farm groundwater pumping within the district.

The SSJMUD is slated to use their CALFED Water Use Efficiency grant to construct 40 acres of spreading ponds and install a recovery well within its boundaries to provide district operational flexibility. The ponds will also aid in absorbing surface water, when available, for recharge and irrigation recovery in peak-demand months or dry periods. Annual water savings will conserve approximately 1,100 acre-feet (or about 358 million gallons); lifetime water savings over the project’s 50-year life is anticipated to be 55,800 acre-feet (or about 18 billion gallons). The total project cost of $1,162,926 including the federal cost-share of $500,000.

California and federal agencies are partners in the 30-year program (2000-2030). Reclamation’s competitive selection process prioritized projects that addressed statewide CALFED goals. The SWID and SSJMUD projects will aid the CALFED Bay-Delta Program’s objectives of improving ecosystem health, water supply reliability and water quality.

Fiscal year 2020 CALFED funding is available through Funding Opportunity Announcement BOR-MP-F002 and applications are due by Dec. 2, 2019, through: www.grants.gov. For more information contact: Anna Sutton regarding the Water Use Efficiency Program at: [email protected] or 916-978-5214 (TTY 800-877-8339).