January 13, 2022 - WASHINGTON DC - Last week, Rep. Jim Costa continued to advocate for key California infrastructure priorities as funding from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) begins to roll out.

In a letter to U.S. Dept. of the Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Touton, Costa provided recommendations on how the Biden administration can prioritize the distribution of IIJA funding to help improve water infrastructure in the San Joaquin Valley. This letter comes ahead of a required spending plan on how the administration intends to use the funding provided by IIJA which will be released later this month.  
 
Costa advocated for  the following: 

• Building major storage projects in California such as B.F. Sisk Dam Raise and San Luis Reservoir Expansion, Sites Reservoir Project, Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion, Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir Project, Pacheco Reservoir Expansion, and Kern Fan Groundwater Storage Project, which enjoy broad regional support and have multiple benefits, including storing more water in wet years to use in dry years.  

• Completing seismic retrofits at B.F. Sisk Dam in conjunction with expansion of San Luis Reservoir to create cost efficiency.  

• Restoring the carrying capacity of canals in the San Joaquin Valley, including the Delta-Mendota Canal, Friant-Kern Canal, and the California Aqueduct. 

• Projects that help ease the transition to compliance with California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.  

• Multi-benefit projects in key regions, particularly groundwater recharge projects that will have positive impacts on groundwater sustainability while providing other benefits such as water supplies for disadvantaged communities or seasonal wetlands for waterfowl and other species.  

• Expediting the delivery of aging infrastructure funding, particularly for major rehabilitation and replacement activities located in the San Joaquin Valley that are listed in the Bureau of Reclamation’s April 2021 Asset Management Report.  

• Recycling projects with the potential to increase the availability of Central Valley Project and State Water Project supplies for water transfers to other regions and reduce sole source reliance on the Delta.

The full text of the letter can be viewed here. 

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provides the following funding: 

• $1.15 billion to improve water storage in California and the San Joaquin Valley, which could benefit B.F. Sisk Dam, Sites Reservoir, Los Vaqueros Reservoir, and Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir expansions. 

• $3.2 billion to repair aging water infrastructure projects in California  

• $3.5 billion to improve drinking water infrastructure in California 

•  $1 billion for rural water projects  

• $500 million to repair aging dams and ensure safety, for projects like B.F. Sisk Dam/San Luis Reservoir    

• $400 million for WaterSMART program grants for California water districts and farmers  

Funding to address drought, which includes: 

• $1 billion to revitalize water recycling projects, which can expand water supplies   

• $980 million to environmental programs in the West  

• $250 million to bolster desalination water projects 
  Source: Congressman Jim Costa