Diminishing Federal Dollars Delay Reclamation Projects

In its recent report to Congress, the Bureau of Reclamation noted that diminishing federal funding over the years has resulted in delays to rural water supply projects.  Between 1980 and 2007, Congress directed the Bureau to undertake eleven specific rural water supply projects. Of those eleven, four have been completed in South Dakota and in Montana and seven remain unfinished in North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Montana, Iowa and Minnesota. Further underinvestment in these projects will further delay their completion. Congress currently appropriates $50 million a year for these projects. The report notes that if that rate of investment were to continue, these projects would be completed “perhaps not until well after 2063 despite close to $4 billion being invested by that time.” Additionally, the report mentions that an annual federal investment of $162 million would speed up project delivery to 2029 at a total federal investment of about $3 billion. AGC continues to advocate on Capitol Hill for common sense investment in our nation’s water infrastructure. For more information, contact Jimmy Christianson at 703-837-5325 or christiansonj@agc.org.