An event celebrating the release of $52M to the Bureau of Reclamation for improvements to Hoover Dam was held on Feb. 20.
The funding was allocated under the U.S. Department of the Interior’s omnibus appropriations bill approved in January. The money, which was originally collected from ratepayers, had previously been held in an inaccessible account. The original intent was to use the funds for dam employee retirement benefits, but that program has since been funded elsewhere.
Hoover Dam provides power to utilities in Arizona, Nevada and California, but low water levels have made it less reliable in recent years than it had previously been. Improvements to the dam’s equipment are expected to help with its efficiency.
Officials said the dam has seen deferred maintenance needs mounting for several years. BoR estimates $200M in repairs will be needed over the next 10 years.
Wide-head turbines are the most pressing project at the moment, officials said. The new turbines could cost between $8M and $12M.
The seven Colorado River Basin states recently failed to reach an agreement over assigning water shortages over the next 20 years and missed a federal deadline.
The headwaters area of the Colorado River in the Rocky Mountains has seen one of the worst snowpack seasons on record.
Nevada officials have urged BoR to work efficiently in addressing issues with the Hoover Dam and Colorado River on both projects and policy. (Source)
