The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) will distribute $889 million to support critical water infrastructure projects across six states. These investments will fund initiatives that improve water conveyance, expand storage and modernize backbone infrastructure for the American public and agriculture sector.
The states chosen to receive federal support include:
- California – $540 million.
- North Dakota – $108 million.
- Wyoming – $100 million.
- Utah – $100 million.
- Idaho – $30 million.
- South Dakota – $11 million.
California will benefit from the largest share of the awards, distributing the funding across five lynchpin projects for the region’s water infrastructure network. The Delta-Mendota Canal will spend the lion’s share, $235 million, to rehabilitate the upper canal by raising canal embankments, repairing check structures and advancing the potential construction of a concrete-lined canal segment.
The state will deliver another $200 million to help the Friant-Kern Canal handle subsidence correction, averting an issue that has been causing problems for the canal’s operations. The San Luis Canal will receive $50 million to also address subsidence issues, the state will spend $40 million to advance plans to raise the Shasta Dam and increase its capacity by roughly 634,000 acre feet and the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority will receive $15 million to increase flow rates and system performance at a pumping plant.
North Dakota will allocate $100 million of its share to advance the Eastern North Dakota Alternate Water Supply Project. The initiative will use existing water supply features to provide reliable, affordable water for municipal and rural water systems. The remaining $8 million will support the Garrison Diversion Unit’s efforts to repair the McClusky Canal and Snake Creek pumping plant.
The remaining projects receiving funding will include:
- Wyoming will spend $100 million to support long-term repairs in the Fort Laramie Tunnels.
- Utah will use its $100 million share to replace the Highline Canal with an enclosed pipeline.
- Idaho will spend $30 million to build a conveyance and pump storage project in the Lewiston Orchards Irrigation District.
- South Dakota will allocate $11 million to repair leaking concrete siphons as part of the Belle Fourche Siphon lining project.
The funding was made possible as part of the federal government’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, allocating government-wide spending for the coming year. The administration included $1 billion to the Bureau of Reclamation through 2035 to supplement water infrastructure projects across the West, targeting water conveyance systems and surface water storage capacity.
Image by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay
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