Army Civil Works announces invitations to apply for dam safety loans; $2 billion in potential federal financing for California

Published Sept. 17, 2024
Updated: Sept. 13, 2024
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WASHINGTON (Sept. 13, 2024) – The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today announced the first set of proposals being invited to apply for loans under the new Corps Water Infrastructure Financing Program (CWIFP). Eight of the invited applicants are in California and the financing associated with these applications could result in dam safety work on 37 dams throughout the state.

Those invited to apply for CWIFP loans in California include:

  • Santa Clara Valley Water District Financing Authority – $653 million in potential federal financing for seismic retrofit work on four dams within their dam portfolio.  
  • City of Napa – $18 million in potential federal financing for spillway expansion work at Conn Dam.
  • City of San Diego – $241 million in potential federal financing for various dam safety efforts ranging from dam replacements to spillway improvements at six dams within their dam portfolio. 
  • San Francisco Public Utility Commission – $615 million in potential federal financing to fund their Dam Safety and Resilience Program at seven dams within their dam portfolio. 
  • City of Los Angeles – The city of Los Angeles submitted two applications, both of which were selected, for a total of $300 million in potential federal financing for rehabilitation work on Bouquet Dam located in Los Angeles County and a replacement of Tinemaha Dam located in Inyo County.
  • California Department of Water Resources – $176 million in potential federal financing for 26 separate dam safety projects located at 16 different dams within their dam portfolio throughout California. 
  • South Sutter Water District – $22 million in potential federal financing for dam rehabilitation work at Camp Far West Dam located on the Bear River in Yuba County.

CWIFP is a new federal financing program to provide loans and loan guarantees for borrowers for safety projects to maintain, upgrade, and repair non-federal dams. The applications in the fiscal 2023 selection round include requests for financing of critical infrastructure projects such as dam repairs, dam replacements, seismic retrofits, and spillway capacity increases. The 18 proposals being invited to submit full applications span 12 states and if selected will improve the safety of dams across the country with most of the requests providing benefits to economically disadvantaged communities. 

Invited applicants have one year to complete and submit their full application. View the full list of selections and obtain more information about CWIFP at https://www.usace.army.mil/CWIFP. For more information, please contact the CWIFP Team at CWIFP@usace.army.mil.