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Reclamation commissioner touts water conversation, infrastructure projects in HYDROVISION speech

In a speech to hundreds of HYDROVISION International attendees, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton touted water conservation and infrastructure projects in the face of increasing water scarcity and drought conditions.
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Reclamation commissioner touts water conversation, infrastructure projects in HYDROVISION speech
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton speaks to attendees as part of the HYDROVISION International 2022 keynote (Source: Clarion Energy editors).

In a speech to hundreds of HYDROVISION International attendees, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton touted water conservation and infrastructure projects in the face of increasing water scarcity and drought conditions.

Touton, Reclamation’s 24th commissioner, highlighted the HYDROVISION International 2022 keynote, along with Kurt Miller, Executive Director of Northwest RiverPartners; and David Surla, Deputy Director of International Hydro Business Development for EDF Hydro.

MORE: Executive interview with Camille Calimlim Touton, Bureau of Reclamation

The Bureau of Reclamation covers 17 western states and brings water to more than 31 million people.

As the second-largest producer of hydropower in the United States, its fleet includes 77 facilities that generate about 40 million MWh of electricity each year.

Touton noted almost 93% of the western U.S. is experiencing drought or abnormally dry conditions, and 70% is experiencing severe or extreme drought conditions.

She said hotter temperatures are leading to earlier snow melts and dry soils, translating into earlier and lower runoffs into reservoirs, already coupled with lowest reservoir capacities on record.

“The challenges Reclamation is facing in this century are unlike anything we’ve seen before,” she said.

But Touton said Reclamation is leveraging its financial resources, utilizing its operational flexibilities, and implementing the federal infrastructure law to help the west become more resilient.

She noted that in fiscal year 2022, the Department of Interior issued a number of drought-related or water conservation funding awards as part of existing programs to help local communities to be more resilient and diversify local water supply. This included 56 projects to be funded with $55.3 million of WaterSMART funding across the western states.

Touton also said Reclamation has replaced 35 turbines at hydropower plants since 2009. During that same time period, the bureau upgraded six generators, increasing generation capacity by approximately 40,000 kilowatts.

Late last year Reclamation and the Bonneville Power Administration completed major overhauls of units 22, 23 and 24 inside the Nathaniel “Nat” Washington Power Plant at the 6,809 MW Grand Coulee Dam project. The site is located on the Columbia River about 90 miles west of Spokane, Washington.

“The ongoing drought highlights the need for immediate actions, as well as for thoughtful planning to work to make our infrastructure and operational decisions more resilient to withstand future water resource scarcity and variability,” she told HYDROVISION attendees.

Touton returned to the Department of the Interior with the Biden Administration and served as Reclamation’s Deputy Commissioner beginning in January 2021. She was officially sworn in as Bureau Commissioner in December 2021.