Las Vegas Review-Journal: Hoover Dam needs urgent repairs. It just got a $52M boost
For almost a century, Hoover Dam has stood tall, delivering water and reliable hydropower to cities throughout the American West.
But even the most impressive feats of human engineering need maintenance — $200 million of it over the next decade, to be exact, according to estimates from the Bureau of Reclamation, the federal agency in charge of water and dams in the West.
“Sadly, even a structural achievement like the Hoover Dam is not immune from aging, and its maintenance needs have been mounting for quite some years,” said Rep. Susie Lee, D-Nev.
Lee and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., joined Colorado River Commission of Nevada Chairwoman Puoy Premsrirut at a Lake Mead outlook Friday to celebrate the release of $52 million to the Bureau of Reclamation for necessary work.
The money, collected from ratepayers, had been suspended for years in an inaccessible account. It was originally meant to give retirement benefits to dam employees, but once that program was funded elsewhere, the money was in limbo.
The original bill to free up the funds, called Help Hoover Dam Act, failed to pick up momentum when Lee co-introduced it in 2024. Some members misunderstood the fact that the bill wouldn’t have cost taxpayers a cent, Lee said.
Instead, Congress folded it into the Interior Department’s omnibus appropriations bill that President Donald Trump signed last month — a mandate from Congress and the president to use the funds accordingly, Premsrirut said.
Turbines a focus
Asked about what pressing matters the Bureau of Reclamation might use the funding for in particular, Premsrirut said the most crucial, outstanding project is new, wide-head turbines. That could cost anywhere between $8 million and $12 million, she said.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considers Hoover Dam to be “high hazard,” meaning that should it ever fail, the loss of life and property would be tremendous. Officials last inspected it in 2023, and must do so every four years, according to the National Inventory of Dams.
Hoover Dam is no longer the main source of power for NV Energy, but the utility was the first to be served by the dam in 1937. Today, the dam provides power to utilities throughout Arizona, Nevada and California, though low water levels have made it less reliable.
Northeast of Las Vegas, the Lincoln County Power District, for instance, sources the majority of its power from Hoover Dam.
Projections for Lake Powell could spell trouble for power production at Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona, the other major source of hydropower along the Colorado River. Below a certain water level, federal officials worry that releases downstream to Lake Mead could be in jeopardy because of antiquated infrastructure.
Bad snowpack, no consensus
The news conference comes a week after the seven Colorado River Basin states said they could not come to an agreement on how to assign water shortages over the next 20 years before the federal government’s deadline to do so.
All three officials at the news conference said conversations are continuing between the states and the Bureau of Reclamation amid one of the worst snowpack seasons for the Colorado River headwaters in the Rocky Mountains on record.
In a Friday statement, Acting Reclamation Commissioner Scott Cameron praised Lee and Cortez Masto’s persistence on the issue of hydropower.
“We appreciate the Nevada delegation’s commitment to hydropower at Hoover Dam,” he said. “Reclamation is working closely with our partners to develop a viable path forward that supports investment in hydropower generation for the benefit of the people of Arizona, Nevada, and California.”
The responsibility to get projects moving now rests with the federal government, Premsrirut said.