The Biden administration will invest $50 million over the next five years to improve water infrastructure in the Upper Colorado River Basin.
An initial $8.7 million in 2023 will support drought mitigation in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming and help ensure compliance with interstate water compact obligations.
It’ll fund a dozen stations designed to measure evapotranspiration, which officials say is a key method for determining water consumption and a way to develop drought contingency planning.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is allocating billions of dollars in infrastructure funds to Colorado River sustainability through water purification and reuse, water storage and conveyance, desalination and dam safety.