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The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation has announced the allocation of 29.1 million in grants from the WaterSMART Program to aid communities in better conserving water. Forty-five projects from 13 states will use the WaterSMART funds will received funds in one of two categories.
Twenty-eight projects from 11 states will share in $7.5 million in the first category. Each project will receive up to $300,000 in federal funding and will have a completion timeframe of less than two years.
The 17 projects from seven states in category two will share $21.5 million. These projects are receiving up to $1.5 million in federal funding and must be completed within three years.
“Existing water and hydropower resources are being strained as our infrastructure ages and population grows. The WaterSMART program provides critical support to western communities, helping to best conserve limited water resources,” said Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt.
Projects selected to receive WaterSMART grants are located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Projects receiving funds include advanced meters for residences that will help inform them about water use, improving irrigation scheduling by installing moisture probes and irrigation system monitoring, installing flow measurement for real-time monitoring of water deliveries or replacing unlined canals with pipe or lining.
Of the 12 California water projects receiving the WaterSMART grants Mission Springs Water District, located in Desert Hot Springs (near Palm Springs), will combine $300,000 in federal funding with $3.4 million of its own funding to upgrade 12,967 residential water meters to advanced meters to help inform customers about leaks, breaks and other unusual use patterns. The project is expected to result in annual water savings of 549 acre-feet, thereby reducing the amount of water pumped from the Coachella Valley Groundwater Basin.
The Siskiyou County Flood Control and Water Conservation District in northern California will receive $240,000 in WaterSMART funding toward a $480,000 project to install groundwater measurement and monitoring devices in the Butte, Scott, and Shasta Valley basins. The district is the Groundwater Sustainability Agency responsible for implementing California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act in these three basins. The project is intended to reduce agricultural water use, which will allow conserved water to remain in the aquifers. The project includes 10 soil moisture sensors and 10 groundwater elevation monitoring devices in each basin. Groundwater levels have been declining in the area, which has been reliant on groundwater. The project will provide the district with better information about when and how much to irrigate and is expected to result in an annual water savings of 1,931 acre-feet by reducing over-irrigation.
The ten other California agencies/cities receiving WaterSMART funds include:
- City of Banning, Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project
Total Project Cost: $2,945,052 Reclamation Funding: $300,000
- Long Beach Water Department, Automated Metering Infrastructure Project
Total Project Cost: $4,867,570 Reclamation Funding: $1,500,000
- Moulton Niguel Water District, MNWD Advanced Meter Infrastructure Implementation Program (Phase III)
Total Project Cost: $8,201,777 Reclamation Funding: $1,500,000
- City of Newport Beach, Newport Beach Advanced Metering Infrastructure Implementation Program (Phase 2)
Total Project Cost: $9,188,009 Reclamation Funding: $1,500,000
- North Kern Water Storage District, Calloway Canal Lining and Water Delivery Improvements
Total Project Cost: $3,133,029 Reclamation Funding: $1,500,000
- City of Oceanside, Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project (Phase I)
Total Project Cost: $8,871,924 Reclamation Funding: $1,500,000
- Olivenhain Municipal Water District, Advanced Metering Infrastructure Water Use Efficiency Project
Total Project Cost: $2,056,251 Reclamation Funding: $300,000
- City of San Buenaventura, Ventura Water Advanced Meter Infrastructure Conversion Project (Phase III)
Total Project Cost: $2,342,510 Reclamation Funding: $300,000
- City of Santa Ana, Automated Metering Infrastructure Installation Project
Total Project Cost: $3,733,388 Reclamation Funding: $300,000
- Yorba Linda Water District, Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project (Phase I)
Total Project Cost: $2,186,308 Reclamation Funding: $300,000
“These water and energy efficiency grants help increase hydropower production and contribute to water supply reliability in the western United States,” said Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman. “WaterSMART is an opportunity for communities to use water more effectively and reduce risk for future water conflict.”
