Luján Announces New Mexico Victories Secured in Critical Water Infrastructure Legislation

Washington D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) announced water infrastructure victories that he helped secured for New Mexico in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) – biennial legislation that authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Program to carry out water projects nationwide and recently passed the House and Senate.

“Reauthorizing WRDA is critical to continue to improve and protect our water infrastructure in New Mexico and across the nation,” said Senator Luján. “From boosting our flood and storm protection to investing in our state’s acequias, this legislation will modernize water infrastructure in communities across the country. I’m proud to see that this WRDA is headed to President Biden’s desk and will support water infrastructure needs in our communities while strengthening our economy.”

Senator Luján helped champion the following provisions:

• Increased the authorization for the Corps’ Acequia Program by $10 million for additional restoration and protective measures to increase the resiliency of acequias to climate change-induced stress;

• Amended the Acequia Restoration Program to make explicit that the Federal share of reconnaissance, initial engineering, and scoping studies carried out by the Secretary shall be 100 percent;

• Amended Western State Programs so subdivisions of local government in New Mexico are eligible for Sec. 595 funding which support the design and construction of facilities pertaining to wastewater treatment, water supply, environmental restoration, and surface water resource protection and development in New Mexico; and

• Amended WRDA 2022 to provide the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with the authority to partner with other Federal agencies, National Laboratories, and institutions of higher education to develop, update, and maintain hydrologic and climate-related models for use in water resources planning.

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