The Bureau of Reclamation told Western lawmakers it will increase the amount it spends on large-scale water recycling by up to $10 million per project, a boost meant to help address rising construction costs.
Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton told California Sen. Alex Padilla (D) and nearly 30 other lawmakers who had pressed for the increase that her agency would bump up the per-project cap on federal funding for water recycling to $40 million, up from its current $30 million limit.
“Reclamation recognizes that project costs for many water infrastructure projects have increased significantly in recent years,” Touton wrote in a Dec. 6 letter. “Based on a review of project costs, as well the expected availability of funding to support the current number of applicable projects, we agree that a further increase in the project ceiling to $40 million is appropriate.”
Lawmakers pressed Reclamation to increase the cap in a July letter, noting that the agency could do so under a 1996 law that allows it to address inflation for water recycling and conservation projects. It last raised the cap in 2022 from its original $20 million level.
