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- By Jenna Kunze
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May 18, 2022
Today, the Department of the Interior announced that it will invest $29 million in dam safety programs to benefit tribal communities.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs Irrigation, Power and Safety of Dams will benefit from the $13 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Laws funding for tribal communities across the nation.
Six dams that are currently unsafe will be redesigned and repaired, including one at Fort Apache Reservation in Arizona, one in Crow Reservation in Montana and two at Pine Ridge Reservation, South Dakota.
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In 2019 the Pine Ridge Reservation’s Oglala Dam formed a reservoir that was drained to protect downstream communities from flood damage. Interiors estimates that the project will be completed by 2026. Press release.
Today’s announcement, in addition to the resources that have been allocated for irrigation power systems in Indian Country and water sanitation systems, will further safeguard tribal water supplies, supporting families, communities, Secretary Deb Haaland stated in a statement. This is another step in the Biden/Harris administration’s efforts to invest in communities that most need them.
Bryan Newland, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, stated that dam repairs and maintenance have been delayed for many years. This has resulted in a maintenance cost of over a billion dollars today.
He said that the $29million investment would make communities safer and provide additional irrigation water for other purposes.
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About the Author
Staff Writer
Jenna Kunze reports for Native News Online, Tribal Business News. Her bylines have appeared on The Arctic Sounder (High Country News), Indian Country Today, Smithsonian Magazine, Anchorage Daily News, and Indian Country Today. She was one of 16 U.S. journalists chosen by the Pulitzer Center in 2020 to report on climate change in Alaska’s Arctic region. Prior to that, she was the lead reporter at Chilkat Valley News in Haines (Alaska). Kunze is based out of New York.
