8/22/24, 2:19 PM Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $51 Million from the President’s Investing in America Agenda

Agenda to Restore and Protect Rivers

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8/22/24, 2:19 PM Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $51 Million from the President’s Investing in America Agenda to Restore and Protect Rivers
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Reclamation > News & Multimedia > news release > Biden-Harris
Administration Announces More Than $51 Million from the President’s…
Biden-Harris Administration Announces More Than $51 Million from the
President’s Investing in America Agenda to Restore and Protect Rivers and
Watersheds

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund 18 projects in eight states

that will improve aquatic habitats

Media Contact: [email protected]

For Release: Dec 19, 2023

Overlook of Las Vegas Wash

WASHINGTON — The Department of the Interior today announced more than $51 million in
funding from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for 18 projects in eight states that
will restore and protect aquatic ecosystems.

Crucial funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the Bureau of Reclamation’s
WaterSMART program will support the study, design and construction of col laboratively
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developed ecosystem restoration projects that provide widespread
benefitsregional

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and improve the health of fisheries, wildlife and aquatic habitat through restoration and improved
fish passage.

“Through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we are advancing nature-based

solutions that benefit local water supplies, and the wildlife and habitats that support them,”
said Secretary Deb Haaland. “The Interior Department continues to advance water solutions
that are environmentally and economically sound for the American West.”

“The benefits of these projects are far-reaching in terms of climate resilience and ecosystem
restoration benefits,” said Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton. “The work to
restore and protect the habitat for fish and wildlife also helps to improve water quality and
mitigate impacts of drought and potential flood events.”

Commissioner Touton made the announcement during a visit to the Las Vegas Wash project
outside Henderson, Nevada. As part of today’s announcement, the Southern Nevada Water
Authority will receive $20 million to create a wetland and other habitat within the Lake Mead
National Recreation Area. The project will improve water quality and help protect the spawning
area for the endangered razorback sucker in Las Vegas Bay. The Wash is a crucial link in the
Las Vegas Valley watershed, channeling more than 200 million gallons of urban runoff, highly
treated effluent and shallow groundwater to Lake Mead.

President Biden’s Investing in America agenda represents the largest investment in climate
resilience in the nation’s history and is providing much-needed resources to enhance Western
communities’ resilience to drought and climate change. Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law, Reclamation is investing a total of $8.3 billion over five years for water infrastructure
projects, including rural water, water storage, conservation and conveyance, nature-based
solutions, dam safety, water purification and reuse, and desalination. Over the first two years of
its implementation, Reclamation has selected 421 projects to receive over $2.9 billion.

The projects selected under this round of the Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program are:

California

East Bay Municipal Utility District, Mokelumne River Floodplain Project: Improving
Conditions for California’s Central Valley Anadromous Fisheries (Task A: Study and
Design)

Reclamation Funding: $650,000

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The East Bay Municipal Utility District will work with local landowners to complete the study and
design of two 25-acre floodplain restoration projects which, once constructed, will inundate
roughly 50 acres of off-channel rearing habitat benefitting federally listed, Fall-run Chinook
salmon and steelhead trout.

Sonoma County Water Agency, Eel River at Cape Horn Dam Fish Passage Improvement
Project (Task A: Study and Design)

Reclamation Funding: $2,000,000

The Sonoma County Water Agency will study and complete design for fish passage
enhancements at the Eel River's Cape Horn Dam and explore options for continued trans-basin
diversions from the Eel River into the neighboring Russian River. The Cape Horn Dam is part of
the Potter Valley Project, located in Mendocino County, California, which has been diverting
water from the Eel River into the Russian River watershed for more than a century. The Potter
Valley Project has played a crucial role in supplying water for agriculture, consumptive use, and
instream flows for aquatic ecosystems, however, native populations of federally listed Chinook
and Coho salmon and winter Steelhead in the Eel River have declined substantially.

Colorado

Blue River Watershed Group, Blue River Habitat Restoration Project (Task A: Study and
Design)

Reclamation Funding: $1,857,570

The Blue River Watershed Group, working in partnership with the Town of Silverthorne, will
complete the engineering and design for a project to repair degraded aquatic habitat in the Blue
River, downstream of the Dillon Reservoir in Summit County, Colorado. This reach of the Blue
River is impacted by its proximity to the outflow of the Reservoir, which has contributed to an un-
naturally low flow regime, below average water temperatures due to cold-water releases from
the bottom of the Reservoir, and a lack of natural sediment and nutrient transport.

Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, Kawuneeche Valley Ecosystem

Restoration Project (Task A: Study and Design)

Reclamation Funding: $761,000

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The Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District, in collaboration with the Kawuneeche Valley
Ecosystem Restoration Collaborative (KVERC), will study and design a suite of restoration
projects within the Kawuneeche Valley aimed to return the landscape to a natural beaver-willow
ecosystem. The Kawuneeche Valley is located in north-central Colorado, along the headwaters
of the Colorado River within the boundaries of Rocky Mountain National Park. Over the past
three decades, elk and moose browsing has reduced the density and area of the valley’s native
tall willow stands, severely limiting material for beaver dam construction, leading the species to
leave the area. As a result, the valley landscape has changed from one of the most significant
wetlands in Colorado into an unnatural grassland ecosystem.

Montana

Trout Unlimited, Upper Clark Fork Basin Fish Passage Improvement Project (Task A:
Study and Design)

Reclamation Funding: $594,306

Trout Unlimited, in partnership with the Montana Natural Resource Damage Program (NRDP)
and the Clark Fork Coalition, will design a suite of infrastructure improvements to provide fish
and recreational boat passage, screen ditches, and improve water delivery at ten irrigation
diversion sites within the Upper Clark Fork River Basin located in western Montana. This project
extends across two subbasins encompassing the Upper Clark Fork River Basin, the Flint Rock
and Upper Clark Fork. The Clark Fork is home to imperiled populations of native threatened bull
trout and West slope cutthroat trout. Currently, irrigation diversion structures are fragmenting
habitat, entraining fish and posing hazards to floaters and anglers on public waterways along the
Upper Clark Fork River.

Nevada

Southern Nevada Water Authority, Erosion Control Structure at the Las Vegas Wash:
Completion of Weir 5 (Task B: Construction)

Reclamation Funding: $20,000,000

The Southern Nevada Water Authority will implement erosion control measures and create in-
stream habitat in the lower Las Vegas Wash within Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Clark
County, Nevada. Serving as the crucial final link in the Valley’s watershed, the Wash channels
more than 200 million gallons of highly treated effluent, urban runoff, and shRalleotwugrnrouton

dtwoapter to
Lake Mead each day, and carries stormwater to the lake during rain events. Wetlands in the

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Wash help to filter impurities from these flows and provide important animal habitat in the desert
climate of Southern Nevada. The project will create additional wetlands for the benefit of water
quality and wildlife and will involve the removal of invasive tamarisk and revegetation with native
shrubs, trees, and grasses. The project will improve habitat conditions for wildlife, including the
federally endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and Yuma Ridgway’s rail, and the
threatened, yellow-billed cuckoo, and improve spawning habitat for the razorback sucker.

New Mexico

Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, Southside Wastewater

Reclamation Plant Outfall Restoration Project (Task B: Construction)

Reclamation Funding: $3,014,481

The Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (Water Authority) will reconnect
approximately 11 acres of floodplain habitat along 1,900 linear feet of the Rio Grande
approximately five miles south of downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Water Authority
operates the Southside Wastewater Reclamation Plant, which treats approximately 55 million
gallons of wastewater per day. The land surrounding the outfall is part of the Rio Grande Valley
State park and is jointly owned by Middle Rio Grande Conservancy district and the Bureau of
Reclamation. High-quality treated effluent is then released to the Rio Grande via an outfall
channel on the east bank of the river. The project will reconnect the Rio Grande to its floodplain
by excavating the banks, allowing water to stretch across the floodplain, restoring the river’s
natural hydraulic processes and enhancing and adding 2.2 acres of expanded floodplain habitat
for the endangered Rio Grande Silvery Minnow

Oregon

Deschutes River Conservancy, Restoring Upper Deschutes River Aquatic Habitat for
Oregon Spotted Frog and Other Native Species (Task A: Study and Design)

Reclamation Funding: $651,542

The Deschutes River Conservancy (DRC), in partnership with the Deschutes Basin Board of
Control (DBBC), will complete the study and design of habitat restoration projects that will
benefit the Oregon spotted frog, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act and the
native Redband trout designated by the state as a sensitive species, on the Deschutes River in
central Oregon. Habitat for these species has been degraded in this sec tion R
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rtop
Deschutes River between the Wickiup Reservoir and the City of Bend, which includes

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Reclamation’s Deschutes Project, through the storage and release of water for irrigation. The
DRC and DBBC will conduct site studies and analysis to prioritize projects to restore the stream
channel through regrading the riverbanks and reconnecting the active channel to its floodplains
to allow flows to inundate wetlands and riparian areas adjacent to the river channels, providing
habitat for the Oregon Spotted Frog and improving in-stream habitat.

North Unit Irrigation District, Fish Screen Replacement at Bend Headworks (Task B:
Construction)

Reclamation Funding: $5,965,809

North Unit Irrigation District will replace the existing, rotary drum fish screens with upgraded, flat
plate screens and a traveling screen cleaning system at the Bend Headworks, located at the
district’s main canal intake on the mainstem of the Deschutes River, in Bend, Oregon. The
Deschutes River is home to brown and rainbow trout, the rare brook trout, whitefish, and
transient fingerling coho and kokanee from Wickiup Reservoir, a Bureau of Reclamation Project.
The design of the new screens will slow the approach velocity, shrink the mesh size of the
screen, and provide a safe path for fish to the fish ladder.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Restoring Ecosystem Function and Fish Habitat
in the Hood River Watershed (Task A: Study and Design)

Reclamation Funding: $500,000

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Hood River Watershed Group will complete the
study and design of five stream restoration projects across the East Fork Hood River, Neal
Creek, and Baldwin Creek sub-watersheds in north-central Oregon. Funding will be used to
develop 100 percent designs to remove two fish passage barriers and restore at least 3.5 miles
of fish habitat, which will improve wetland function, increase stream complexity, restore riparian
habitat, and connect the floodplain to the main channel. The projects will advance the recovery
of Endangered Species Act listed Lower-Columbia River Salmon and steelhead.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Reconnecting Fish Passage to Recover Oregon
Coast Coho in the Nehalem and Tillamook Watersheds (Task B: Construction)

Reclamation Funding: $3,000,000

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and local partners will complete a suite of high-
priority fish passage and habitat restoration actions in the Lower Nehalem Watershed, in
coastal, Northwest Oregon. The project will include the removal of 4 da ms aRndectuulrvnerttos

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at nodp will

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replace 5 tide gates, which are fish passage barriers that also restrict floodplain connectivity with
two muted tidal regulator gates, which will result in 22 miles of coho spawning and rearing
habitat reconnected and 381 acres of floodplain wetlands reconnected.

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Restoring Habitat Connectivity for Lower
Columbia River Salmonids in the North Fork Klaskanine River Watershed (Task B:
Construction)

Reclamation Funding: $3,175,089

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will restore fish passage in the North Fork
Klaskanine River by providing fish passage at the Ogee Dam. The project builds upon progress
made in previous phases of a watershed-scale effort, that included the removal of one dam and
installation of a fish passage structure at a second dam upstream of the proposed project
location at Ogee Dam. Once installed, the fish passage feature at Ogee Dam will provide access
to 12 full miles of critical spawning and rearing habitat in the upper reaches of the North Fork
Klaskanine River for the benefit of ESA-listed coho salmon. The project will also benefit several
non-listed, but culturally significant species, including coastal cutthroat trout, Pacific lamprey,
and Western brook lamprey.

Washington

Chelan County, Peshastin Creek Historic Channel and Floodplain Reconnection and
Design Project (Task A: Study and Design)

Reclamation Funding: $768,587

Chelan County will complete the study and design of a comprehensive restoration project to
relocate and reconnect the Peshastin Creek channel with its historic floodplain and build two
highway bridges across the rerouted creek in Chelan County, Washington. Aquatic habitat within
Peshastin Creek was severely degraded by the construction of State Route 97 in the 1950’s,
which reduced and straightened the stream channel and disconnected it from the historic
channel footprint and floodplain. The County will complete a hydrology and hydraulic
assessment of existing and proposed conditions, perform an alternatives analysis seeking input
from fish biologists, local landowners, and other stakeholders, and conduct a bridge study and
risk analyses, to produce a 60% design package.

Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation, Pom Pom Road at Toppenish Creek Habitat
Restoration and Fish Passage Project (Task B: Construction)
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Reclamation Funding: $3,020,000

The Yakama Nation will restore aquatic habitat and fish passage on Toppenish Creek, a tributary
to the Yakima River in Yakima County, Washington. Irrigation diversions, roads, bridges, and
agriculture have disconnected the creek’s main channel from its historic floodplain. As a result,
federally-listed salmonid species have been cut-off from healthy floodplain spawning habitat,
and groundwater recharge from the floodplain has been eliminated. When completed, the
restoration project will provide 2.4 miles of complex high-quality rearing and spawning habitat for
the federally threatened Columbia River steelhead and culturally important Pacific lamprey by
routing stream flows back into of the historic channel. Installation of a new bridge and three box
culverts will increase flow conveyance width by 270%, the creek will be reconnected to 100
acres of floodplain forests, restoring natural stream processes, and increasing flood water
storage.

Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation, Nason Creek Floodplain (DOT-N1) RM 3.2
to 4.6 Floodplain Project (Task A: Study and Design)

Reclamation Funding: $500,000

The Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation (Yakama Nation), in partnership with
the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and the U.S. Forest Service
(USFS), and in coordination with the Wenatchee Subbasin Watershed Action Team (WAT), will
complete final construction designs for a large-scale salmon habitat restoration project along
Nason Creek near the City of Leavenworth in Chelan County, Washington, within the Northern
Treaty Territory of the Yakama Nation. The project will develop final construction designs to
remove, and subsequently re-route, a problematic 0.65-mile-long segment of State Route 207
away from the Nason Creek floodway to restore stream habitat for Endangered Species Act
(ESA) listed spring Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout.

Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation, Wapato Diversion: Improvements for

Anadromous Fish Passage (Task A: Study and Design)

Reclamation Funding: $2,000,000

The Yakama Nation, working in partnership with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, will develop
alternatives for the passage of anadromous fish species at the Wapato Diversion on the lower
Yakima River in Central Washington State. Following an alternatives analysis, the selected
project concept will be advanced to a 60% level of design. The purpose of the design
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alternatives is to restore fish passage for fish within the Yakima Major Population Group of
federally-threatened, Middle Columbia River (MCR) Steelhead, spring and summer run Chinook,
Coho, and Sockeye salmon, and juvenile and adult Pacific Lamprey.

Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation, Prosser Diversion: Improvements for

Anadromous Fish Passage (Task A: Study and Design)

Reclamation Funding: $2,000,000

The Yakama Nation will study, select, and design alternatives to improve fish passage and avoid
entrainment at the Prosser Diversion on the lower Yakima River of Central Washington State.
The Prosser Diversion supplies irrigation water through the Chandler Canal serving the

Kennewick Division of Reclamation’s Yakima Project. The dam can divert more than 50% of
Yakima River flow at times, creating very dangerous fish passage conditions. A large proportion
of the Yakima basin’s smolts get entrained in the canal and suffer high mortality. Removal or
modification of the dam and headworks will create safer passage conditions for all anadromous
species. These improvements will benefit all four populations comprising the Yakima Major
Population Group of federally-threatened Middle Columbia River Steelhead juveniles and adults;
juveniles and adults from the entire Yakima populations of spring and summer run Chinook,
naturally-spawning fall Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon; and juvenile and adult Pacific
Lamprey.

Wyoming

City of Casper, Study and Design North Platte River Restoration (Task A: Study and
Design)

Reclamation Funding: $567,117

The City of Casper will complete the study and design of a project to restore approximately 3-
miles of the North Casper and Knife River Reaches of the North Platte River in Natrona County,
Wyoming. Widespread colonization of the invasive Russian olive, entrenchment of upstream
dams and reservoirs, bank erosion, channel widening, and poor riffle and pool complexity from
upstream sediment inputs have reduced the ecosystem function of the riparian and aquatic
habitats. The project has the potential to restore over three miles of river channel, improve
adjacent riparian health, create various types of new wetlands, create an Audubon Important
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