Investing in the West’s Water Future: Why Congress Must Fully Fund the WaterSMART Program

With drought and climate pressures intensifying across the West, Audubon and partners are sounding the alarm: Congress must fully fund the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART program before it's too late. Alongside a diverse coalition of 103 national, regional, state, and local organizations representing Tribes, water managers, conservationists, farmers, and business leaders, Audubon submitted a letter last week urging Congress to fully fund the WaterSMART program—an essential tool for helping communities adapt to a changing climate and safeguard limited water resources for birds, people and local economies. As Congress finalizes appropriations for the coming fiscal year, this diverse show of support highlights the widespread need for continued investment in this impactful program and water throughout the West.

For the last 15 years, WaterSMART has:

• Funded 2,364 projects and studies in the West, saving an estimated 1.7 million acre-feet of freshwater per year (enough water for 4.6 million people annually)
• Leveraged funding to secure an additional $8.75 billion from non-federal partners
• Helped scale up proven drought resiliency programs such as upgraded irrigation technologies, groundwater storage, and water reuse
• Implemented risk-management strategies and nature-based solutions that help address drought and wildfire impacts
• Advanced collaborative, watershed-scale planning efforts such as the Colorado River Basin Study, which was instrumental in establishing comprehensive modeling and continuing dialogue toward future solutions
• Supported water projects for the benefit of cities and rural areas, Tribes, wildlife, and wetland improvement

WaterSMART helps implement the SECURE Water Act, passed by Congress in 2009, to support a sustainable water management policy, advancing solutions from water conservation and drought planning to agricultural improvements and habitat restoration. Reclamation’s WaterSMART program provides cost-shared funding for projects to evaluate conditions and possible future management strategies (i.e., Basin Study) as well as to conserve and use water more efficiently, implement nature-based solutions and ecosystem restoration for birds and other wildlife, and advance drought planning. Many of these projects serve multiple purposes, enhancing both water delivery reliability and overall watershed health. The collective work that is supported by WaterSMART has gone a long way to help avoid emergency water supply crises across the West and in particular in the Colorado River Basin.

In our work to protect people and birds in the arid West, Audubon knows first-hand the benefits of various WaterSMART programs on the ground, and has offered support for project partners seeking these highly competitive grants.

• Cooperative Watershed Management Program (CWMP): Through WaterSMART, the CWMP supports communities in forming watershed groups to identify, plan, design, and implement projects that address local water needs. Along the Lower Gila River west of Phoenix, Audubon Southwest, in partnership with the Lower Gila River Collaborative, was awarded CWMP funding to improve ecosystem health and water management. The WaterSMART funding builds upon decades of work with local partners to advance coordinated restoration. In New Mexico, CWMP was instrumental in establishing the Isleta Reach Stewardship Association, an agency and community group focused on improving the watershed health and habitat within the Isleta reach, a 48-mile span of the Rio Grande River in north central New Mexico.
   
• WaterSMART Grants: Projects supported by Reclamation’s WaterSMART Grant program consider a wide range of water supply solutions; for example, the Environmental Water Resources Program advances projects implementing nature-based solutions that result in sustained water savings and provide ecosystem benefits. In 2019, the Utah Division of Water Resources was awarded a WaterSMART Grant to help develop a statewide water marketing strategy and to study demonstration areas for a voluntary, locally driven water bank. Audubon greatly appreciated Utah’s proactive efforts and the many collaborators who spent years developing the water banking program.
   
• Basin Studies: WaterSMART Basin Studies support collaborative planning to help partners identify, address, and plan for water supply and demand imbalances. In New Mexico, the Rio Grande Basin Study includes more than 36 signatories working to develop water management resiliency strategies under climate warming scenarios. As part of this process, Audubon Southwest is co-leading efforts to define and protect environmental flow targets in the Rio Grande of New Mexico. Audubon also supported important water planning legislation and funding in 2022 for Utah’s Great Salt Lake Basin Integrated Basin Plan, including WaterSMART Basin Studies funding.

These WaterSMART-funded programs are essential for building drought resilience in a hotter and drier West, in part through ensuring safe, reliable, and efficient management of water resources for people, agriculture, and ecosystems, as well as birds.

Without sustained federal investment, we risk losing the momentum, innovation, and long-term economic and ecological benefits these proven programs deliver. Audubon and partners across the West are calling on Congress to meet this moment and fully fund the WaterSMART program—because resilient communities, thriving ecosystems, and a sustainable water future are all on the line; see the text of the letter here.