Hello and greetings from our nation's capital.
I'm Camille Calimlim Touton, Commissioner of the Bureau of Reclamation.
Thanks to the Family Farm Alliance for the invitation to present remarks as part of your
annual meeting and conference in my home state.
This is among the nation's leading events for those working to preserve Western irrigated
agriculture so it's always an honor for Reclamation to participate.
I want to thank Executive Director and my friend Dan Keppen, President Pat O'Toole and
Sharon O'Toole, and the entire board for your leadership and partnership.
Reclamation respects and appreciates your role as a powerful advocate for family farmers,
ranchers, irrigation districts and allied industries in the 17 Western states.
You were one of the first people I spoke to last year when I returned to the Department
of the Interior.
It's wonderful to be back with you, and I hope to be with you in person later this year.
Our partnership is long-standing and is one that I value.
Your conference theme this year "Those in the Arena" embodies both the heart of your organization
and the long-term partnership with Reclamation and me personally.
We've definitely been in the arena together to help enact major western water legislation
and make sure that agriculture is a central consideration in crafting national water policies.
This has ranged from small conduit hydropower, to expanded water storage, renewed investment
in aging infrastructure, to title transfer legislation and more.
Those legislative victories have been achieved through collaborative efforts.
And as an example of how those victories have paid off, in the first year of this Administration,
Reclamation has allocated nearly half a billion dollars for new water storage.
We broke ground on Friant-Kern Canal rehabilitation on January 25th, and through early February
we've completed four title transfers, including two recently in Washington State.
You are as you note the problem solvers and your success comes from focus on one mission
To ensure the availability of reliable, affordable irrigation water supplies to Western farmers
and ranchers.
Reclamation is proud to be your partner across the 17 Western states as you carry out that mission.
Momentarily, you will hear from several of your bureau partners during the much-anticipated
Reclamation Roundtable.
Deputy Commissioner David Palumbo and colleagues will discuss issues and activities from across
the basins.
That will be as always an informative and lively discussion skillfully handled by the
subject matter experts.
Tomorrow, Assistant Secretary for Water and Science Tanya Trujillo will join you as well.
As for my time with you, I believe it appropriate that I center my remarks as Commissioner around
the topic you and I agree is among the most critical of our time and one with significant
opportunity the efficient implementation of the President s transformational Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law.
Throughout my remarks I will also refer to it as the BIL, or the law.
The BIL represents a generational investment to address the vast infrastructure challenges
facing the Western water and power communities.
Key to its successful implementation is an informed discussion among a broad range of
federal leadership and stakeholders, which includes you.
Before I delve into specifics, I first want to acknowledge our recognition of the hardships
the drought has presented across the basins over the last few years.
This year has already been a roller coaster of hydrology, a record snowpack month, followed
by no-snow weeks.
This warmer, drier west and its variable hydrology has drastically affected our operations and
has significantly impacted you the agricultural contractors we serve and the communities in
which you live and the people whose jobs support those communities.
Across the West, Reclamation has been faced with the need to manage this historic drought
in the moment.
It has been daunting but we have responded with financial resources, operational flexibilities,
and technical assistance.
Basin by basin, we are engaged in actions to mitigate the impacts of a drying landscape.
We intend to continue these efforts, and leverage the resources in the Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law to build a more resilient western landscape.
The Family Farm Alliance is a recognized authority on critical issues dealing with Western water
policy, and you put in the time with the coalition efforts to get the BIL enacted.
As such, you are intimately familiar with Reclamation s authorized program areas under
the law and our partnership with you will play a positive role in Reclamation s implementation.
We are aligned with the FFA s position that BIL dollars are spent as Dan said on the ground
for the intended purpose.
In this regard, we look forward to working with you for success on two fronts.
First, ensuring that funds are allocated in a way that s timely, efficient and effective.
Secondly, fostering dialogue that enables recipients to take advantage of the opportunity
afforded them.
As with any successful relationship the ability to be candid and direct about what is possible
is something that this organization and I have.
If you look at our track record of success, it reflects a collaboration of the political,
economic, and policy realities and it stands the test of time.
The messages your organizations choose to send about the promise BIL holds will lay
the groundwork for whether local entities participate and put in the time to learn of
these opportunities, apply for the funding, and build it into their own planning and capital
investment efforts.
Most importantly we need to be able to communicate and collaborate because Reclamation s successful
implementation of BIL is your success.
Reclamation is committed to collaborative efforts to ensure that BIL investments reflect
the Administration s priorities.
This includes investing public dollars efficiently, working to avoid waste, and focusing on measurable
outcomes for the American people.
This aligns with my fundamental belief that the clearest path to success is through respectful
and mutually beneficial collaboration.
Reclamation shares your philosophy that and I m quoting here the best solutions come from
the ground up and are driven locally by real people with a grasp of reality on-the-ground.
Reclamation also agrees with your position that BIL funding must deliver meaningful results.
That's why Reclamation stood up the cross-directorate Program Management Implementation Team, comprised
of deputy regional directors in the local offices your members know, and some senior
leadership in Denver.
This team will ensure timely execution of the statute, inclusion of the local perspective,
and efficient distribution of funds to advance and complete authorized projects.
Reclamation's implementation aligns with the Department and adheres to President Biden's
priorities to effectively coordinate with partners and build resilient infrastructure.
Priorities also include investing in public dollars equitably, improving job opportunities,
and delivering outcomes for the American people.
These, however, are not new objectives, having been a longstanding part of the bureau s business practice
Reclamation seeks clear communications in all fiscal years before, during and after
BIL implementation.
The six live information sessions we hosted during December and January were just
the kickoff to what we intend to be a long-term commitment to open communication thoughout
the law's life cycle.
I hope you found those useful if you participated.
If you were not able, I encourage you to review the archived webcasts at www.usbr.gov/bil.
We have posted a public-facing Bipartisan Infrastructure Law website describing the
implementation approach.
We ve included our Initial Spend Plan on the site to provide as much detail as possible,
as well as links to the many BIL-related funding opportunities that are rolling out this year.
The Spend Plan which we submitted to Congress on January 14th and have supplemented since
then is for fiscal year 2022 funding allocations authorized in the law.
It represents a blueprint for how Reclamation will invest the 1.66 billion dollar annual allocation.
Additionally, Reclamation's regional and Washington leadership continues to engage with you and
other stakeholders at external events, including some of your organizations 2022 conference
events like today.
AND you have my commitment to maintain this dialog with you during 2022 and for the duration
of the law's implementation.
As of this recording on February 2nd, Reclamation has four public BIL-related funding opportunities
or application periods open to our customers.
We have published or are planning publication of program criteria for three distinct new
BIL-funded programs this year.
And we have two BIL-related Reclamation Manual releases either posted as temporary releases
or in final stages of review and publication as of this recording.
Before I wrap up, I'd like to acknowledge some key points:
First I know that there will be significant challenges in assuring that the resources
appropriated by Congress are utilized as efficiently as possible to meet the statute s intent.
Higher-than-average construction cost volatility, manufacturing and supply chain constraints
associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and other extant factors will greatly influence
BIL implementation and are factored into our planning.
But we are going to use the law to advance continued progress in areas like WaterSMART,
where working with local districts across the West, we have funded 749 WaterSMART projects
just since 2016.
That included 365 million dollars in federal funding and leveraged 1.1 billion dollars
in non-federal funds.
The Water and Energy Efficiency Grant projects funded since 2016 alone are expected to save
more than 430,000 acre-feet of water per year, once completed.
Next, there will be competition for time, competition for resources and difficult choices
to be made to fund projects within the parameters of the Law.
Further, we anticipate there will be more stakeholder requests than can be accommodated
by the law in the next five years.
These are challenges that we can and will overcome.
Finally we know that there are many more questions still to be answered about which projects
will get what amount of money.
We are working through that with your contacts in the regional and area offices and they
are working with you FFA's members to understand the need and capability behind every project.
To make this work we need the channels of communication that have always served us so well.
We need to keep talking, and our being with you this week is indication of our collective
commitment to that communication.
We are dedicated to working together to communicate, to collaborate, and to overcome these and
any of the unseen challenges that await us on this journey.
In closing, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law implementation will succeed based on the participation
by you our local partners.
We welcome your continuing constructive engagement to help make the effort a success.
Thank you for the chance to talk to you today.
The next five years will provide significant advancements in areas of mutual interest.
Reclamation is excited and ready for the work on the ground to manage Western water.
Again, I thank you for the opportunity to be part of this year's annual conference.
And now, I turn the program over for introduction of the Reclamation Roundtable.