Underground Construction - April 2022 - 8

NEWSLINE LATEST INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS
U.S. Interior Earmarks
$1.7 Billion Tribal Water
Settlements
U.S. Department of Interior announced that it
will use $1.7 billion from the recently enacted
federal infrastructure bill to fund 16 tribal water
rights settlements. The funds are to pay for
infrastructure that provides access to water that
the tribes have been promised, the agency said.
" I am grateful that tribes, some of whom
have been waiting for this funding for decades,
are finally getting the resources they are owed, "
Haaland said in a statement during a trip to
Arizona, where she announced the funding.
Access to reliable, clean water and basic
sanitation facilities on tribal lands remains a
challenge. The funding for settlements is part
of about $11 billion from the infrastructure
law headed to Indian Country to expand
broadband coverage, fix roads and provide
basic needs like running water.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1908 that
tribes have rights to as much water as they
need to establish a permanent homeland, and
those rights stretch back at least as long as any
given reservation has existed. As a result, tribal
water rights often are more senior to others in
the West, where competition over the scarce
resource is fierce
Litigation can be expensive and drawnout,
which is why many tribes have turned
to settlements. Nearly 40 have been reached
with tribes, some of which include more
than one tribe. Altogether, the infrastructure
bill included $2.5 billion for water rights
settlements in the coming years.
Michigan Counties Form
Water Infrastructure Partnership
County officials in the Detroit area have
agreed to establish partnerships to address
water and broadband infrastructure challenges
facing the region.
Commissioners in Oakland, Wayne and
Macomb counties have adopted resolutions on
the regional partnerships. The two groups will
gather studies and create recommendations for
action, which will culminate in a presentation to
be made at a summit this year.
" With these groups, we have the opportunity
to ensure equity on a much larger scale than if
we were working independently, " said Oakland
County Commission Chair David T. Woodward.
8 APRIL 2022 | UCONonline.com
Michigan Legislature
Approves $4.8 Billion
Infrastructure Plan
Michigan lawmakers have approved
$4.8 billion in spending, mostly for
infrastructure upgrades, with an influx of
federal pandemic and other funds that will go
toward water systems and other priorities.
The supplemental budget plan, which Gov.
Gretchen Whitmer will sign, has more than
$2.1 billion for drinking water and wastewater
infrastructure - including by replacing lead
pipes - dam repairs and safety, and the
remediation of " forever chemicals " known
as PFAS.
The House and Senate approved the
main bill 95-7 and 34-3. The deal was
announced late on March 23 by the governor
and Republicans who lead the Legislature's
budget committees.
The plan - which legislators called
" momentous " and " historic " - includes
$250 million to add high-speed internet
to rural and other areas without access,
an additional $383 million in emergency
assistance for low-income renters, and
$271 million for housing and related aid.
Planned California Reservoir
on Track for $2.2 Billion
Federal Loan
A long-delayed plan to build a giant reservoir
in Northern California got a financial boost
last month when the federal government
signaled its intent to loan the project nearly
$2.2 billion - about half of the cost to design,
plan and build it.
The idea has been around since the 1950s
but never moved forward because there had
never been enough money or political will.
But a long-running drought has renewed
interest in the project, which is also in line to
get about $875 million from a voter-approved
bond plus another $450 million loan from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The massive loan announced in mid-March
by the Environmental Protection Agency
effectively preapproved the project. Final
approval will take up to two years as federal
government and project officials to negotiate
the terms and sign documents.
The project still must clear some regulatory
processes before construction, including an
environmental review in which the project
is facing fierce resistance.
Georgia Awards
$422 Million for Water
and Sewer Projects
Georgia Gov Brian Kemp awarded $422 million
from federal COVID-19 relief
funds to more than 100 water and sewer
projects concentrated in rural Georgia.
The biggest project is $49 million awarded
to Albany State University and the state
Environmental Protection Division to reduce
reliance on the surface waters of the Flint
River basin and the Floridian aquifer by
using deeper underground water supplies
during droughts.
The Flint River feeds Apalachicola Bay in the
Florida panhandle, where an important oyster
fishery has mostly collapsed, in part because
of unreliable water flows, especially during
drought. Water usage in the ApalachicolaChattahoochee-Flint
River system has been the
subject of long-running legal disputes among
Georgia, Florida and Alabama, with Georgia
winning some key rulings in recent years.
It's the second major round of funds
approved by Kemp. He earlier awarded
$408 million in federal money to expand
high-speed internet access, also mostly in
rural Georgia. The governor also planned to
announce a third round of funding to offset
negative economic impacts from
the pandemic.
Sewage Spill Shuts Down
California Beach
A stretch of Southern California beach was
temporarily closed to swimmers and surfers
after up to 50,000 gallons of raw sewage
spilled into nearby waters, authorities said.
The Orange County Health Care Agency said
a blocked sewer line at a restaurant in Newport
Bay caused the leak of untreated sewage, the
Los Angeles Times reported. Waters on the
west end of the bay were to remain closed until
the water quality samples meet acceptable
standards, the agency said.
This spill came less than two months after
a sewage main in Carson failed, spewing
millions of gallons of waste into the Los Angeles
Harbor and fouling beaches in Long Beach and
elsewhere in LA and Orange counties.
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