The Bureau of Reclamation is releasing $5.5 million to U.S. Territories through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda for projects that will provide domestic water supplies to communities or households that do not have reliable access to potable water. Funds will be used for planning, design or construction of water projects. 

The U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands are eligible for funding through the Inflation Reduction Act.

“The U.S. territories face unique challenges in supporting their communities with clean, reliable water supplies, including aging infrastructure and sea-level rise,” said Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton in a news release. “Investments from the Investing in America agenda will assist Reclamation in supporting the U.S. territories as they seek a reliable water supply for their communities and citizens.”

The announcement was made at the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Territorial Climate and Infrastructure Workshop last week at the Hawaiʻi Convention Center. In attendance were local, federal and territorial representatives to discuss how the Investing in America agenda provides “once-in-a-generation” climate and infrastructure resources to the territories, including investments in ecosystem restoration and climate resilience.

Reclamation has long provided engineering services and technical assistance to the territories through an interagency agreement with the Office of Insular Affairs, according to the release.