Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Congresswoman Susie Lee (D-Nev.-03) introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Help Hoover Dam Act to allow the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to access about $50 million in unused, long-stranded funds for Hoover Dam operations, maintenance, and improvement projects. Senators Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) are original co-sponsors of this legislation.
“The Hoover Dam is a monument to the idea that America can and will invest in infrastructure that improves the lives of its people,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “The dam and its powerplant serve residents across Nevada, Arizona, and California. It’s past time we cut the red tape, unlock the $50 million in unused funds to improve and maintain the dam, and save taxpayer dollars.”
“The Help Hoover Dam Act will cut through federal red tape and free tens of millions of dollars in long-stranded funding for Hoover Dam improvement projects. This is government efficiency,” said Congresswoman Susie Lee. “Our bill is about keeping energy prices from going up, protecting our natural resources, and saving taxpayers money.”
“Drought on the Colorado River has had a dramatic impact on Hoover Dam customers, reducing generation by roughly 40 percent compared to pre-drought generation levels. The Help Hoover Dam Act would give the Bureau of Reclamation the congressional authority necessary to make beneficial use of stranded funds in order to pay for critical operation, maintenance, and replacement projects at Hoover Dam. This legislation is urgently needed to help not-for-profit, community-owned utilities served by Hoover Dam to continue to serve their communities during this difficult time,” said Desmarie Waterhouse, Senior Vice President of Advocacy and Communications & General Counsel, American Public Power Association.
“The Help Hoover Dam Act is urgently needed to ensure adequate funding for operation, maintenance and replacement projects at Hoover dam and mitigate cost impacts on consumers. The dam provides clean and affordable energy to many southwestern rural communities and is critical to maintaining grid reliability in the western United States. We appreciate Senator Cortez Masto and Congresswoman Susie Lee’s efforts to ensure that electric cooperatives and other not-for-profit utilities can continue to rely on Hoover Dam to meet the energy needs of their communities,” said Louis Finkel, Senior Vice President for Government Relations, National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA).
“The Help Hoover Dam Act is of critical importance to Nevada. Hoover Dam is an icon of the American West, facing unprecedented challenges due to extreme drought. This bill will preserve power generation at a time when the Western United States needs reliable and cost-effective energy resources,” said Eric Witkoski, Executive Director of the Colorado River Commission of Nevada.
Tens of millions of dollars in the Colorado River Dam Fund have been inaccessible for decades due to bureaucracy, federal red tape, and government inefficiency. 40 million people depend on the Colorado River for water and 1.3 million people in Nevada, Arizona, and California depend on the Hoover Dam for electricity. The Help Hoover Dam Act will support the dam and its powerplant by:
- Investing $50 million in unused funds in the Hoover Dam — helping save taxpayer dollars, protect Western water and other natural resources, and strengthening a key source of Nevada’s energy.
- Giving Reclamation clear authority to partner with Hoover hydropower contractors in recovering and utilizing these stranded funds for authorized activities — including operations, maintenance, capital improvements, and clean-up actions — at Hoover Dam and lands connected to the dam.
The Help Hoover Dam Act is endorsed by the American Public Power Association, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, the Colorado River Commission of Nevada, the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the Irrigation and Electrical Districts Association of Arizona, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and others. Representatives Mark Amodei (R-Nev.-02), Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.-04), and Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.-06) are co-leading this legislation in the House of Representatives.
Senator Cortez Masto has been a leader in the Senate working to combat drought and protect water infrastructure. She fought to deliver $4 billion to combat drought in the states bordering the Colorado River in the Inflation Reduction Act and she helped pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which will continue to make a historic amount of funding available for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements across the country over the next five years. Cortez Masto also passed into law a $450 million competitive grant program for large-scale water recycling projects across the Western U.S.
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