The Gila River Indian Community will receive up to $233 million in funding for conservation agreements that will assist the tribe and other water users along the Colorado River Basin in protecting the Colorado River system’s stability and sustainability.
The funds, announced Thursday by federal, state, and tribal officials, will be used to pipe up to 20,000 acre-feet of reclaimed water for agriculture, to fund solar-panel shade covers over tribal irrigation canals, and to create a conservation project that will save up to 125,000 acre-feet over the next two years.
Colorado River System
The Gila River Indian Community will receive $50 million from the Inflation Reduction Act through the Lower Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program, which will help finance a system conservation agreement to protect Colorado River reservoir storage volumes in the face of persistent climate change-driven drought.
The Colorado River System will benefit from roughly 2 feet of elevation gain in Lake Mead as a result of this conservation project.
The agreement also calls for the creation of up to 125,000 acre-feet of system conservation water in 2024 and 2025, with an additional $50 million investment for each additional year.
This is one of the first allocations from the Lower Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program for a system conservation agreement.
The Lower Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program was announced by the Department in October 2022 to help increase water conservation, improve water efficiency, and prevent the System’s reservoirs from falling to critically low elevations, threatening water deliveries and power production.
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Millions of dollars for the Gila River Indian Community
In addition, the Department announced an $83 million investment in the Gila River Indian Community’s Reclaimed Water Pipeline Project, which will boost water reuse and Colorado River water conservation.
The project will connect recycled water to the Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project’s infrastructure.
When finished, the project will offer up to 20,000 acre-feet of system conservation annually, with a minimum of 78,000 acre-feet dedicated to Lake Mead. The pipeline project is funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and annual appropriations.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Act includes $8.3 billion over five years for Reclamation water infrastructure projects to promote drought resilience and increase access to clean water for people, farms, and wildlife.
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