Large-scale water recycling program kicked off with $180 million investment

The Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., launched a new water recycling program that will incentivize projects at a larger scale, with no cap on project size. The project will play an important role in helping communities develop local, drought-resistant water supplies by turning unusable water sources into clean, reliable ones through funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R.3684). 

The funding opportunity is part of the Washington, D.C.-based Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART program and is aimed at water management agencies considering or planning larger water reuse projects as part of strategies to address projected water supply shortages, according to the Bureau of Reclamation, Washington, D.C. The initial investment of $180 million announced today is part of a total $450 million for this new program.   

“Water is essential to everything we do: feeding families, growing crops, powering agricultural businesses, sustaining wildlife and safeguarding Tribal subsistence practices,” says Deb Haaland, U.S. Secretary of the Interior. “As the climate crisis drives severe drought conditions and historically low water allocations, it will take all of us working together to safeguard our communities. Through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we have historic new investments that are helping us to build a water supply that will sustain future generations.”

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