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Water Recycling and Desalination
Water recycling and desalination are essential tools for stretching limited water supplies in the Western United States. Reclamation provides cost-shared funding on a competitive basis for planning, design, and construction of water recycling and desalination projects. Funding is made available for projects through the Title XVI Water Reclamation and Reuse Program, the Desalination Construction Program, and the Large-Scale Water Recycling Program
Documents
Contacts
Contact Information: For more information, please contact Maribeth Menendez, at 303-445-2094 or mmenendez@usbr.gov.
- Interior Region 5: Missouri Basin & Interior Region 6: Arkansas-Rio Grande-Texas Gulf - Luis Cruzado, (512) 899-4170 or lcruzado@usbr.gov
- Interior Region 7: Upper Colorado Basin - Gary Mcrae, (801) 524-3656 or gmcrae@usbr.gov
- Interior Region 8: Lower Colorado Basin - Alex Soubannarath, (951) 695-5310 or vsoubannarath@usbr.gov
- Interior Region 9: Columbia-Pacific Northwest - Cory Sandow, (208) 963-2351 or csandow@usbr.gov
- Interior Region 10: California-Great Basin - Mike Dietl, (916) 397-4483 or mdietl@usbr.gov
If you have questions regarding applicant and project eligibility, program requirements, or the funding opportunity evaluation criteria, click here and submit an inquiry request for the appropriate program.
You may complete this form to receive WaterSMART program notification from the Bureau of Reclamation.
Announcements
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Public Comment for WTR 11-01 Water Recycling and Reuse Prorgrams
The Bureau of Reclamation is requesting public review and comments from relevant stakeholders on the draft revisions to Reclamation Manual Directives and Standards WTR 11‑01. The draft and additional information are available on the Reclamation Manual website.
Please submit written comments to Maribeth Menendez (mmenendez@usbr.gov) before the end of the 30-day comment period, which ends on October 29, 2026, and include “Public Comments on WTR 11‑01 Revisions” in the email subject line.
Please note that Large‑Scale Water Recycling feasibility study requirements are included in the draft publication. If the Large‑Scale Water Recycling Program authority is not extended or reauthorized, all water recycling feasibility studies will instead be reviewed under the Title XVI Program. Prospective applicants under the WaterSMART Water Recycling and Desalination Programs will be expected to use the revised WTR 11-01 required report contents for any feasibility studies submitted after 1/15/2027. As part of the webinar series on implementing Secretarial Order 3446, Reclamation will present an overview of the proposed WTR 11‑01 changes in October. -
WaterSMART Title XVI and Desalination Construction Webinar
On Tuesday, June 2nd, 2026, the Bureau of Reclamation hosted an informational webinar to discuss eligible applicants and project types, program requirements, and the evaluation criteria for the Title XVI and Desalination Construction Notice of Funding Opportunities. Click here to watch a recording of the webinar.
