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Summary

The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is responsible for the construction of most of the large irrigation and water resources infrastructure in the West. Reclamation manages water resource facilities in 17 western states with an original development cost of over $20.0 billion. Reclamation is over 100 years old, and many of its facilities now have an average age of over 50 years. This aging infrastructure requires increased maintenance and replacement efforts and expenditures. Reclamation appears to have a well documented plan to assess the management needs of its portfolio of aging infrastructure. However, water resources infrastructure management objectives require prioritization due in part to a finite budget. This inevitably leads to conflicts over project funding priorities. As Reclamation's portfolio of infrastructure continues to age, these conflicts are likely to arise more often. Further, in the case of structures whose operations and maintenance responsibilities have been transferred to the local project beneficiaries, the increased maintenance and replacement efforts and expenditures associated with aging infrastructure -- such as more expensive recapitalization projects -- could motivate the beneficiaries to seek federal funds and congressional support to address project funding issues. This report describes Reclamation's approach to managing aging infrastructure as well as that of two other agencies -- the Army Corps of Engineers and the Natural Resources Conservation Service -- involved with significant portfolios of dams and related infrastructure. Additionally, there is discussion of four specific approaches to managing Reclamation's aging infrastructure through legislative action.

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