The U.S. Department of the Interior has announced a $29.7 million grant to help states in the Upper Colorado River Basin — Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — with drought planning, as part of the approach to make western communities more resilient to drought. This is the second year of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, with $38.4 million distributed so far.
The Colorado River Basin provides water for more than 40 million people, fuels hydropower resources in seven U.S. states, supports 5.5 million acres of agriculture and agricultural communities across the West, and is a crucial resource for 30 tribal nations and two states in Mexico. Despite improved hydrology in recent months, the historic 23-year drought has led to record low water levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead.
Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Bureau of Reclamation is investing a total of $8.3 billion over five years for water infrastructure projects, including rural water, water storage, conservation and conveyance, nature-based solutions, dam safety, water purification and reuse and desalination.
This latest round of funding will help re-activate and install up to 60 stream gauges that are in critical reaches of the basin. It will also expand eddy-covariance tower/weather station networks for improved accuracy and confidence in managing water resources. In addition, this funding will be used for new monitoring technology to track water diversion, soil moisture and snowpack in the Upper Basin. This will improve forecasting and help study water balance and flow under different conditions.