The Bureau of Reclamation announced on Monday the projects awarded the 2024 WaterSMART Drought Resiliency grant funding and the Ute Indian Tribe is one of the two recipients in the state of Utah. Of the $147 million dollars split between 42 projects across the country, the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation was awarded $6,590,150 dollars in Reclamation funding. The announcement states that the Ute Tribe Water System is “supplied by two shallow springs that are subject to productivity fluctuations determined by local hydrology…To enhance water supply reliability and quality, the Tribe will construct three new domestic water supply wells, a water treatment facility, transmission and distribution pipelines, and a 90,000-gallon water storage tank.” It is expected that this will provide up to 168 acre-feet of water per year and will also benefit the residents in the Farm Creek Loop Road area who currently rely on private wells that periodically run dry. This funding will support the Tribe’s 2021 Water Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Development Plan.
