Wyoming Framework Water Plan - Living Rivers Home Page

9.0 PROJECT FUNDING
9.1 INTRODUCTION
Previous chapters of this report quantify water resources available for development and
use. The report also identifies present and future water needs in the basins and identifies future
water use opportunities that could be used to satisfy the identified water demand. In Chapter 8,
development costs of the identified opportunities were presented as well as annual user costs.
Chapter 9 addresses various funding options that project sponsors might choose to pursue.
9.2 FUNDING OF WATER DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS
Water development projects are funded from federal, state,
and private sources. Historically, federal funding has been
responsible for the bulk of the large water development projects in the
western U.S. Several examples of this are large reservoirs located in
Wyoming. Many of these reservoirs were associated with large
irrigation development. Federal funding for water development
projects has become increasingly difficult to secure. Competition
from other needs for limited federal money has been a major reason
large federally financed projects have been on the decline.
However, programs exist within federal agencies for smaller
and more environmental projects. These types of projects might
include habitat development, wetlands, or water quality.
The State of Wyoming has the Water Development Program
that is administered by the Wyoming Water Development
Commission (WWDC) and is subdivided into three programs. Each program has its own financial
account. Account Number 1 is the New Development Account that funds projects that develop new water
or develops a new use for a developed but unused supply. Account Number 2 is the Rehabilitation
Account and deals with rehabilitation and improvement of existing projects. Account Number 3 is the
Storage and Reservoir Development Account. This account is used to fund new dam and reservoir
development.
The State also has the State Clean Water Revolving Fund and the State Drinking Water
Revolving Fund. These two funds are administered by the Wyoming Department of Environmental
Quality (WDEQ), Water Quality Division (WQD). The Clean Water Revolving Fund deals with effluent
and the Drinking Water Revolving Fund funds municipal systems. These two funds are not large
contributors to developing new water but have resulted in significant infrastructure improvements.
The following sections explain some of the more common funding options that are available to
water developers.
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