The Interior Department announced nearly $900 million in new spending on water storage and conveyance projects across the West on Tuesday, with the bulk going to repairing sinking canals in California’s Central Valley.
What happened: The funding comes from a set-aside in HR 1, the spending bill passed by Congress last summer and signed into law by President Donald Trump.
California will receive $540 million, followed by projects in Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
The biggest single amount, $235 million, will go to the Delta-Mendota Canal, followed by the Friant-Kern Canal at $200 million and the San Luis Canal at $50 million. The money is meant to repair the canals, which move irrigation water around the Central Valley, after decades of groundwater over-pumping has caused the land to sink and the canals to crack, reducing their ability to move water.
