Federal Funding
To help build resilience to long-term drought fueled by climate change in the Colorado River Basin, significant investment is needed across the entire Basin. Watershed restoration, forest management, agricultural adaptations, and municipal and industrial conservation are critical strategies that will help local communities, restore ecosystems, and improve overall resilience for the Basin.
The passage of both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) authorized billions of dollars to mitigate risks of drought and a changing climate through resilience improvements for communities, economies, and the environment. Through these and other appropriations, federal agencies, including, but not limited to, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, are providing significant funding opportunities to help reduce the impacts of drought and other natural hazards across the West.
BIL and IRA funding is hitting the ground across the Colorado River Basin, providing an essential down payment on the investments needed to establish resilience across the region. Since the BIL and IRA were authorized, approximately $2 billion has been invested in projects across the western United States, including the Colorado River Basin, to help communities and the environment adapt to the impacts of drought, improve aging infrastructure, and stretch water supplies further. We commend federal agencies like the Bureau of Reclamation for their work on getting these important funds to the ground.
New Federal Funding Available - Upper Basin Bucket 2 Environmental Drought Mitigation (B2E)
In July 2024, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) announced groundbreaking funding for ecosystem and habitat restoration projects in the Upper Colorado River Basin, through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, to mitigate the impacts of ongoing drought. These funds will help increase community and landscape resiliency while restoring habitats and assisting in species recovery. This is the largest-ever investment in climate change-related impacts in the Upper Basin States of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. This funding opportunity reflects what NGOs and many communities impacted by ongoing drought and flooding have been advocating for: we must take a holistic approach that recognizes the importance of a healthy environment to addressing the ongoing drought and climate impacts in the Colorado River Basin, prioritizing both mitigation and resiliency building efforts. The application will be open through October 14, 2024.
This funding provides new and unique opportunities to applicants, including no required cost-share, the ability to submit program-scale proposals and flexible contracting arrangements. These program features can help ensure that federal resources are more accessible to a broad range of partners and demonstrate how federal funds can flow efficiently and effectively to the ground. This funding has the potential to significantly benefit a diverse range of communities within the Colorado River Basin, including Tribal and rural communities, who have been disproportionately impacted by the effects of ongoing drought and climate changes across the Colorado River Basin. Learn more about the funding award here.
The scale of funding now available builds on the existing funding BOR has allocated to ecosystem restoration.
Implementing more of these drought mitigation projects can have a truly transformative impact for the Upper Basin and will provide the most significant opportunity for building resilience. Water conservation and efficiency efforts that reduce demand on the Colorado River remain essential but are only part of the solution. Addressing the risks from a continued drying of the Colorado River system to people, wildlife and ecosystems requires multifaceted strategies that protect and restore the river’s natural infrastructure such as wetlands, riparian corridors and adequate flows. These new funds are an essential step towards building the long-term resiliency that the River so desperately needs.
We commend the Bureau of Reclamation for their work on getting this important funding announcement out. Check out some examples of the types of projects this funding could support.
Federal Funding Database
Learn more about other federal funding programs supported by BIL and IRA by exploring our Federal Funding Database:
