California is getting $307 million of upgrades from the new federal infrastructure law to help fix water problems in the state.
Fixed pipes. Better pumps, turbines and motors. New bypass channels. Repaired fish ladders. Refurbished valves.
Funded by $4.3 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act and $8.3 billion in the infrastructure bill that Congress approved in a rare moment of bipartisan accord, California’s 24 projects — among 83 in 11 states — were unveiled by officials during a visit to the Imperial Dam in Yuma, Arizona. But one of the biggest beneficiaries in the state is closer to home. A pump at the San Luis Unit of the Central Valley Project, which includes the San Luis Reservoir in the grassy hills of the Diablo Range near Los Banos, is getting a $42.5 million makeover of a motor generator, turbine and valve.
At Lake Tahoe, a $3 million feasibility study will consider a plan to replace Lake Tahoe Dam. While the iconic lake is natural, the dam controls the top six feet of the lake’s flow by regulating flows into the Truckee River. The dam’s concrete slab and buttress structure, with 17 vertical gates, is aging.
But the fixes are about more than just crumbling canals or drying river beds, said Padilla. “We’re talking about protecting the source for drinking water, showers and sinks and electricity for 40 million Californians. And we’re talking about a vital resource for agriculture in a region that feeds the nation.”
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