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Nearly $585m to support dozens of western water projects in coming fiscal year

New York Canal
Adam Cotterell
/
Boise State Public Radio
Improvements to the New York Canal are one of 83 projects set to receive federal support in the coming fiscal year.

Dozens of water infrastructure projects in 11 mostly Western states are set to get $585 million in federal funding over the next fiscal year.

That money comes from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Over five years, it will provide $8.3 billion to repair and improve things like dams and canals -- as well as increase drought resilience.

“The Biden-Harris Administration is bringing is every tool and every resource to bear, ensuring that we both minimize the impacts of drought and develop a long-term plan to facilitate conservation and economic growth,” Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau said on a Wednesday press call.

There are three projects totaling more than $6 million slated for Idaho in fiscal year 2023. They include trail rehabilitation at Lake Cascade State Park and lining six miles of the New York Canal. Federal money will also support a number of projects in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada.

The full list of FY 2023 projects can be found here.

We at the Bureau of Reclamation are so grateful for this generational investment, and we are hard at work on projects that have long awaited this sort of funding.”

In addition to the infrastructure law, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act is expected to provide another $4.6 billion to address water infrastructure and drought issues, according to a federal release.

As Boise State Public Radio's Mountain West News Bureau reporter, I try to leverage my past experience as a wildland firefighter to provide listeners with informed coverage of a number of key issues in wildland fire. I’m especially interested in efforts to improve the famously challenging and dangerous working conditions on the fireline.