Biden-Harris Administration Announces $87 million for Pojoaque Regional Water System and Upper Rio Grande

WASHINGTON - The Bureau of Reclamation today announced an $87 million investment from the Inflation Reduction Act for the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System in New Mexico and several water conservation projects along the Upper Rio Grande in southern Colorado.

"These historic investments through President Biden's Investing in America Agenda will help to advance the Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System, which will eventually provide a critical water supply to residents of the Pojoaque Basin," Deputy Commissioner Roque Sanchez said. "It will also assist water districts and the Forest Service with drought resiliency activities in southern Colorado."

The Pojoaque Basin Regional Water System will receive a total of $62.5 million. The funding will provide for ongoing planning and design of the system which will deliver water under the Aamodt Indian Water Rights Settlement Act of 2010. This water system will have the capacity to deliver water from the Rio Grande to approximately 3,800 residents of the Pueblos of Nambe, Pojoaque, San Ildelfonso and Tesuque as well as other residents of Santa Fe County in the Pojoaque Basin. Once completed, the water system is expected to provide up to 2,500 acre-feet of water per year for these communities.

The San Luis Valley and Conejos Water Conservancy Districts, the Rio Grande Water Conservation District and the Rio Grande National Forest in southern Colorado are among the eight recipients selected under one cooperative agreement to receive $24.9 million for several drought resiliency activities in the Upper Rio Grande Basin. The projects are essential to addressing the long-term drought and water security in the region by improving operations and increasing reliability of water supplies, and include projects such as infrastructure efficiency improvements, for sustainability and better management at low water flows, ecosystem restoration, and advanced water acquisitions to more effectively manage surface and groundwater withdrawals for long-term sustainability of water resources and the communities that depend on them.

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 $3.36 billion from IRA for 230 drought mitigation projects, 40 domestic water supply projects, seven emergency relief projects for Tribal communities and four canal improvement projects.