Cortez Masto created this program in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to help Nevada and other western communities combat drought.
Las Vegas, Nev. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) announced $99 million to support a regional large-scale water recycling project that, when completed, will serve hundreds of thousands of households in Southern Nevada and California. This funding is from the Department of the Interior’s large-scale water recycling program that Cortez Masto created and passed as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law specifically to support this project and combat drought in the West.
“Addressing drought in the West and protecting Nevada’s water supply will require all of us to work together on innovative, sustainable solutions,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “I created this program to help support new projects like this one, which will serve thousands of families across Southern Nevada, combat drought, and keep water in Lake Mead.”
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will receive $99 million for their regional large-scale water recycling project. Once constructed, the first phase of the Pure Water Southern California facility will partner with the Southern Nevada Water Authority to produce enough water to serve approximately 386,000 households in Southern California and Southern Nevada annually. Future phases will further increase the project’s capacity. The project will help create reliable and resilient water supplies for Southern California and Nevada, reduce demand on the Colorado River, and keep water in Lake Mead.
Senator Cortez Masto has been a leader in the Senate working to support conservation efforts and combat drought. As part of the Great American Outdoors Act, she secured permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). Cortez Masto fought to deliver $4 billion to combat drought in the states bordering the Colorado River in the Inflation Reduction Act and helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which will continue to make a historic amount of funding available to combat drought.
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