DOI to invest $50 million in water conservation in CA and other states

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced in a press release that the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation “will invest nearly $50 million to improve water efficiency and conservation in California and 11 other western states.”

“In a time of exceptional drought, it is absolutely critical that states and the federal government leverage our funding resources so that we can make each drop count,” said Secretary Jewell. “Being ‘water smart’ means working together to fund sustainable water initiatives that use the best available science to improve water conservation and help water resource managers identify strategies to narrow the gap between supply and demand.”

Secretary Jewell made the announcement Wednesday at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, joined by Nancy Sutley, chief sustainability and economic development officer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and Estevan López, commissioner of the DOI Bureau of Reclamation. Her remarks included a push for more federal-state partnerships in the area of water conservancy.

“Through the WaterSMART Program, Reclamation is providing funding for water conservation improvements and water reuse projects across the West,” Reclamation Commissioner Estevan López said. “We commend the state of California for all the steps they have already taken to alleviate the impacts of the drought. We hope this federal funding for water reuse and efficiency will help us leverage scarce resources between the state and federal governments to bring much-needed relief for the people and environment of California.”

WaterSMART, according to its website, is a “program of the Department of the Interior that focuses on improving water conservation and helping water-resource managers make sound decisions about water use.”

According to the release, Reclamation is investing “more than $24 million in grants for 50 water and energy efficiency projects in 12 western states, more than $23 million for seven water reclamation and reuse projects in California, and nearly $2 million for seven water reclamation and reuse feasibility studies in California and Texas.”