Utah getting $70 million of federal funding for water infrastructure repairs

Of the $420 million the U.S. Department of the Interior recently announced it would be awarding to improve water infrastructure in rural areas across the country, Utah will receive more than $70 million, Utah Public Radio reported.

The projects will focus on repairing aging dams, aqueducts, water treatment plants and canals, helping ensure water delivery obligations to other states downstream the Colorado River, the article states.

One project will construct a new water intake structure at the Deer Creek Dam in Wasatch County, and another will convert Vernal, Utah’s 12-mile Steinaker Service Canal to a pipeline, the Utah Public Radio report said.

Many dams, aqueducts, water treatment plants and canals in Utah are getting so old that their ability to supply available water is compromised, the Deseret News reported, adding that integrity of water supply is especially important during this “unrelenting drought.”

“Funding really helps us expand our capabilities in a wide variety of ways and they do all track back to helping us directly address the drought, as an example,” Interior Department’s Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo told the Deseret News. “We have funding to repair and modernize some of our aging infrastructure.”

The Weber Basin Water Conservatory District will get $8.1 million to fund a siphon replacement to make sure more water reaches the users who get their supply from the freshwater Willard Bay reservoir, the article states. These users include industry, agriculture and key wetland areas.

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