$82 million in funding available for tribal clean water projects

The Bureau of Reclamation is making $82 million available to fund projects designed to bring safe drinking water to tribal communities in the western United States.

Bureau of Reclamation Deputy Commissioner David Palumbo and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Gary Gold made the announcement during a visit to San Carlos Apache Tribe in eastern Arizona, which is receiving $7.3 million to plan, design and obtain approvals and permits for a new raw water delivery and domestic drinking water treatment facilities for the San Carlos Regional Water System.

The system serves the central portion of the reservation and much of the population of the tribe resides in this area without access to safe and reliable drinking water. The area is prone to frequent water curtailments or shutdowns due to poor water quality and system mechanical failures, which often occur in the hot summer months.

The projects are being funded through the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes $550 million for domestic water supply projects in historically disadvantaged communities.

The announcement is in addition to awards Reclamation presented in April, when the bureau made $320 million available through Fiscal Year 2031 to provide up to 100% of the cost for planning, design and construction of domestic water supply projects to support disadvantaged communities or households lacking access to reliable domestic water supplies.

Projects include:

$21.9 million for the Barona Reservation Domestic Water Pipeline Project in California to build a 41,900-foot domestic water pipeline that will service approximately 300 tribal households, as well as other community facilities including the school, the community center, the library, the cultural center and museum, tribal government buildings and the church. This pipeline will provide the Barona Tribal community with reliable, clean water supplies for the first time since the Tribe’s forced relocation to the arid reservation in 1932, Reclamation said.

$7.5 million for the Cortez to Tawoac Water Transmission Line Project for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in Colorado to put together a shovel-ready design for the final 18 miles of a 22-mile project that encompasses the entire line.

$3.8 million for the Enhancing Community Water Infrastructure Reclamation in which the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe in Nevada will conduct planning and design for the reservation and colony’s domestic water distribution and treatment system with numerous upgrades and additions to increase system reliability and to address capacity issues. The tribe intends to increase water treatment capability to properly meet demands and ensure system reliability by adding a second unit and microfiltration system.

$2.36 million to the Kalispel Indian Community’s Kalispel Water Infrastructure Planning and Design Reclamation, which involves planning, designing, and acquiring permits for a domestic drinking water project on the Kalispel Reservation in Washington state. The project will provide planning and design to develop new water sources owned and operated by the Kalispel Tribe, and to integrate the new sources with the existing system, providing access to safe, regulated, and clean drinking water to underserved homes and public facilities.

Photo courtesy Calistemon