California Construction News staff writer
California will receive $540 million in federal funding to improve water conveyance and storage systems under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Department of the Interior announced Tuesday.
The funding is part of an $889 million investment across the Western United States to support Bureau of Reclamation projects in California, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. In California, the money will be used to improve canals, pumping plants and planning projects that serve farms, communities and businesses throughout the Central Valley.
The California projects include:
Delta-Mendota Canal – $235 million
- Rehabilitation of the upper canal
- Raising canal embankments
- Repairing check structures
- Advancing potential construction of a new concrete-lined segment
Friant-Kern Canal – $200 million
- Subsidence correction along the canal
San Luis Canal – $50 million
- Subsidence correction to improve water delivery reliability
Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority pumping plant – $15 million
- Increase flow rates and improve system performance
Shasta Dam planning and preconstruction – $40 million
- Planning and preconstruction work associated with raising the dam
- Would increase storage capacity by about 634,000 acre-feet
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the funding will strengthen water security, modernize aging infrastructure and support farmers, communities and industries that rely on reliable water supplies.
Signed into law July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill provides $1 billion through 2034 to restore and expand water conveyance systems and surface storage capacity across the West. The projects also complement federal efforts to improve drought resilience and deliver more water to the Central Valley Project.
