WASHINGTON – The Bureau of Reclamation today announced a $50 million investment from the Inflation Reduction Act in drought resiliency projects in the Klamath Basin.
“These historic investments through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda will help the Klamath River Basin support agricultural production and improve climate resiliency,” said Reclamation Senior Counselor John Watts. “These projects will demonstrate the effectiveness of new tools for sustainable water management and benefit fish species.”
The Klamath Water User Association and Drought Response Agency are to utilize the funding to deliver or manage water for fish and wildlife benefits and implement a voluntary program reducing water use or demonstrating innovative cropping patterns over multi-year periods. Funding will also benefit anadromous and resident fish species by planning and implementing projects at Keno and Link River Dams and will implement a voluntary, competitive program in consultation with water users to eliminate water demand for irrigated land where it makes sense to do so.
The Biden-Harris administration has led an all-of-government effort to make Western communities more resilient to climate change and address the ongoing megadrought across the region by harnessing the full resources of President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda.
The Inflation Reduction Act includes $550 million for Reclamation to implement domestic water supply projects and $4 billion for water conservation and ecosystem projects in the Colorado River Basin and other basins experiencing similar levels of long-term drought. Reclamation has announced more than $3.2 billion from IRA for 229 drought mitigation projects, 40 domestic water supply projects, seven emergency relief projects for Tribal communities and four canal improvement projects.
