PASSED: Cortez Masto, Lee Legislation to Recover Millions in Unused Funding for Hoover Dam

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Congresswoman Susie Lee's (D-Nev.-03) bipartisan, bicameral Help Hoover Dam Act passed the Senate as part of the most recent appropriations package. This legislation will allow the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to access about $50 million in unused, long-stranded funds for Hoover Dam operations, maintenance, and improvement projects. It now heads to President Trump's desk for his signature.

"For far too long, the Hoover Dam has been unable to use millions of dollars it already has to perform maintenance and improvements," said Senator Cortez Masto. "That will now change. I'm proud to have worked with Congresswoman Lee to secure the future of the Hoover Dam for generations to come."

"There are few more iconic symbols of Nevada than the Hoover Dam. With maintenance needs mounting as the dam approaches its centennial, our common-sense legislation will cut through more than 25 years' worth of federal red tape, freeing tens of millions of dollars in long-stranded funding for Hoover Dam capital improvement projects at no additional cost to taxpayers," said Congresswoman Susie Lee. "This is government efficiency - keeping energy prices from going up, protecting our natural resources, and saving taxpayers money. I look forward to continuing to work with the Administration to support the Hoover Dam, a testament to American engineering and ingenuity."

Tens of millions of dollars in the Colorado River Dam Fund have been inaccessible for decades due to bureaucracy, federal red tape, and government inefficiency. 40 million people depend on the Colorado River for water and 1.3 million people in Nevada, Arizona, and California depend on the Hoover Dam for electricity. Now that it has become law, the Help Hoover Dam Act will support the dam and its powerplant by:

• Investing $50 million in unused funds in the Hoover Dam - helping save taxpayer dollars, protect Western water and other natural resources, and strengthening a key source of Nevada's energy.
• Giving Reclamation clear authority to partner with Hoover hydropower contractors in recovering and utilizing these stranded funds for authorized activities - including operations, maintenance, capital improvements, and clean-up actions - at Hoover Dam and lands connected to the dam.

Senator Cortez Masto has been a leader in the Senate working to combat drought and protect water infrastructure. She fought to deliver $4 billion to combat drought in the states bordering the Colorado River in the Inflation Reduction Act and she helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will continue to make a historic amount of funding available for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements across the country over the next five years. Cortez Masto also passed into law a $450 million competitive grant program for large-scale water recycling projects across the Western U.S.

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