The Department of the Interior today announced a $43 million investment from President Biden's Investing in America agenda for rural water projects that will provide clean, reliable drinking water to rural and Tribal communities. Investments through the Bureau of Reclamation will support six projects already under construction or in the planning phase in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico and South Dakota, and follows $733 million previously announced for rural water projects from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
President Biden's Investing in America agenda represents the largest investment in climate resilience in the nation's history and is providing much-needed resources to enhance Western communities' resilience to drought and climate change. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 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. Since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was signed in November 2021, Reclamation has announced more than $4.1 billion for more than 537 projects.
"With historic resources from President Biden's Investing in America, we are continuing to make significant investments to help states and Tribes to fundamentally alter current and future of water sustainability and conservation efforts across the country," said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. "With new resources from President Biden's Investing in America agenda, we are expediting the completion of long-overdue rural water projects and ensuring that more Americans have clean water flowing from their taps through reliable water supplies, because no community should be left behind."
"Across the country, in rural and Tribal communities, pipes and treatment plants are aging, and polluted drinking water endangers public health. The Bureau of Reclamation is committed to collaborating with impacted communities to solve these everyday challenges," said Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. "Thanks to investments from the President's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are able to expedite the completion of these projects making these communities more resilient to the impacts of drought and climate change."
The projects being funded through today's announcement are:
- $13 million for the Rocky Boys / North Central Montana Rural Water System in Montana to plan and design upcoming on-reservation water delivery pipelines. Funding will also be used to continue construction of non-core segments, such as the Town of Chester. This builds on more than $146 million previously committed through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Tribe to complete the final two segments of the Core Pipeline.
- $10 million for the Lewis & Clark Rural Water System in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota to support expansion of the water treatment plant, this builds on $142.5 million previously committed through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to complete water service to the City of Sheldon and Madison, Iowa. The funding also supported two meter buildings, a pump station and several main service pipelines.
- $9.8 million for the Fort Peck Reservation/Dry Prairie in Montana to fund completion of the Pines Service Area Project. $54 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is being used in the Fort Peck-Dry Prairie Rural Water System to complete the final two phases of service lines within the reservation. Dry Prairie is completing service lines in the Scobey/Flaxville service areas and the Outlook/Westby service areas.
- $5 million for the Jicarilla-Apache Nation to continue data collection and design work. This builds on $22 million previously committed through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the design and construction of project components of the previous phase of the rural water system.
- $2.6 million for the Eastern New Mexico Rural Water Project to continue construction on a raw water pipeline. This builds on more than $229 million previously committed through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for previous work on a large segment of the project to bring potable water to more than 75,800 people in eastern New Mexico.
- $2.5 million for the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System in Montana for additional groundwater wells, and the planning and design of Phase 5, service to the Hobson community. This builds on $65 million previously committed through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to complete Phase 2 to support the delivery of water to the community of Roundup this fall. Phase 2 was the largest project segment administered by the Musselshell-Judith project to date.
