The City of Henderson, in partnership with the Southern Nevada Water District, created a fund that provides rebates to landowners who convert turf to water saving landscapes. The Water Efficiency in Landscape Technology (WELT) rebate incentivizes single family residents, golf courses, homeowner associations, and businesses to convert their turf to water smart and water efficient landscape. Funding from BEF will support the the City of Henderson with this supplemental rebate fund.
Major Basin: North America Colorado
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Quechan Tribe Water Delivery and Plant Nursery
The Quechan Tribe will use BEF funding to design, engineer, and construct a water delivery pipeline within the Bard Water District, near the California/Arizona border in Yuma, to address a bottleneck in the canal system. This improvement will enhance water access for Tribal farmers, supporting agricultural productivity and water management within the district.
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Navajo Water Access Home Water System
The Navajo Nation covers over 27,000 square miles of land in the Four Corners region, in Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. Traditionally, Navajo (Diné) are semi-nomadic people, herding livestock and tending crops in the land between the Four Sacred Mountains. To this day, many Navajo live scattered across the Nation, miles from major water lines, making plumbing water to individual homes prohibitively expensive. Roughly 30% of homes in the Navajo Nation do not have running water. Residents without running water rely on water hauled over long distances, either drawn from potentially contaminated wells or expensive bottled water from grocery stores.
Dilkon Chapter is one of 27 chapters in the Fort Defiance Agency of the Navajo Nation. It is located in the southwestern part of the Navajo Nation, in Navajo County, AZ. The closest towns are Holbrook and Winslow, AZ, about 50 and 40 miles away, respectively. Census data indicates 24% of Dilkon chapter residents live in homes that lack complete plumbing facilities.1 According to preliminary research by the Navajo Water Project Director, there are at least 332 families in Dilkon chapter that do not have running water in their homes.
Currently, DigDeep is the only non-governmental entity actively working in the Dilkon area to install Home Water Systems, deliver water, and offer bill pay assistance and plumbing fixes at no cost. DigDeep is providing support for piped water connections to approximately 50 homes that are eligible for piped water supply and need help with the in-home plumbing, funding and/or required documentation.
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Navajo Water Access Home Water System
The Navajo Nation spans over 27,000 square miles across Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. Many Navajo residents live far from water lines, with 30% of homes lacking running water. Those without access often rely on hauled water from contaminated wells or expensive bottled water. Dilkon Chapter, in the southwestern part of the Navajo Nation, faces significant water access challenges, with 24% of residents living in homes without plumbing. DigDeep, the only non-governmental organization active in the area, is working to provide piped water connections for 50 homes.
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Guayule Drip Irrigation Efficiency Project
Tempe Farming Co. is converting 52 acres of farmland in Pinal County from furrow irrigation to a water-saving drip system, with 30 acres dedicated to growing guayule for Bridgestone Americas in 2024. This conversion supports Bridgestone’s efforts to expand guayule production, a water-efficient crop. The project will provide long-term water savings and help scale commercial production of guayule.
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Lower Colorado Resilience Project
This project, led by Restauremos El Colorado, Centro Luken, BlueCommons, and BEF, aims to reduce water use from the Colorado River in Mexico and help preserve storage levels in Lake Mead through farmer agreements on water leases in the Mexicali region of Mexico. Restauremos El Colorado has developed relationships with farmers in the Mexicali watershed, these farms will temporarily pause activities to decrease reliance on river water. The saved water will be used to lower Mexico’s withdrawals from Lake Mead, supporting conservation efforts and creating new storage reserves.
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Leak Detection in Senior Housing Development Phoenix
In partnership with Pacific Institute, and the City of Phoenix, we are helping to install leak detection devices from Sensor Industries on toilets in low-income senior housing, enabling building management to quickly detect and repair toilet leaks in Phoenix, Arizona. The project is expected to save an estimated 2.3 million liters of water annually through leak detection and repair and it builds on successful leak detection pilots conducted in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities.
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Jicarilla Apache Nation Water Sharing Agreement
The Jicarilla Apache Nation Indian Reservation is in north central New Mexico. The Jicarilla Apache Nation use their water rights for community drinking water supply, cultural practices, and economic development activities. The Jicarilla Apache Nation Water Sharing Agreement is a partnership between the Jicarilla Apache Nation, The Nature Conservancy, and the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission that will allow the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission to lease up to 20,000 acre-feet of water per year from the Jicarilla Apache Nation’s water right in the Navajo Reservoir. The leased water will be used in New Mexico’s Strategic Water Reserve to increase instream flows in the San Juan River. In return, the lease amount will support the tribe’s general budget, which can be used for education and healthcare.
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Innovative Cooling in Community Spaces
In partnership with Waterstart, this project funds a pilot program to deploy an evaporative cooling technology in public use facilities, starting with the Boys & Girls Club of Southern Nevada. This the first project to qualify for the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s wet-to-dry cooling incentive. If proven effective, there is potential to roll out this technology to other community facilities. It will also demonstrate the tangible benefits of innovative water conservation technologies and highlight the power of community partnerships in achieving conservation goals.
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Hoxworth & Buck Springs Restoration Northern Rim Grand Canyon
The Grand Canyon Trust is leading a restoration effort in two priority areas: the Lake Mary Watershed which supports key water resources, including supplies for Flagstaff communities, and the East Clear Creek Watershed on Arizona’s Mogollon Rim. These riparian areas are vulnerable to overuse, trampling from introduced animals, post-wildfire erosion, and other degradation.
In partnership with volunteers and Trust staff, construction of 19 Zuni bowls will address soil erosion and prevent further erosion upstream at 14 sites across three important wetlands. Zuni bowls are a riparian restoration tool that uses rock structures to fortify a waterway against harmful erosion that can damage streams and nearby ecosystem health. Habitat restoration in these areas will lay the groundwork for sustained, long-term restoration strategies. -
Haigler Forest Health Phase 1
In partnership with the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District, this project seeks to improve Haigler Creek watershed, which ultimately flows into Roosevelt Lake in the Salt River watershed. Forest health is crucial to reducing fire risk by thinning vegetation and removing excess fuels. These efforts will help boost habitat quality, water yield, and protect water sources from the impacts of large wildfires.
The project area drains into the Salt River, which is the main water source for the Phoenix metro area, making these improvements critical for protecting local water supply.
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Green River Demand Management and Resilience Project
With this project, Trout Unlimited (TU) aims to enhance water supply for Colorado River reservoirs and promote climate resilience through nature-based solutions in the Green River, Wyoming. This project focuses on two key actions: implementing multi-year demand management agreements with local ranchers to conserve water and constructing Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs) and other structures to restore hydrologic function, improve water infiltration, and enhance habitat. By reducing irrigation withdrawals and increasing stream flows, the project will support federal reservoirs and stabilize water supply for downstream communities, while also increasing resilience in Colorado River tributaries.
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Gila River Indian Community Solar Over Canal
The Gila River Indian Community proposes to undertake a project in response to the Community’s vision to become the first Native American irrigation project in the Nation to be carbon neutral. This project will include the design, development and implementation of a Canal Energy System. A network of solar panels will span over the Casa Blanca Canal and will reduce evaporative losses from the canal while generating clean, renewable energy to benefit the Community.
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Gila River Indian Community Casa Blanca and San Tan Canal Feasibility Study
The Gila River Indian Community (known as the “Community”) proposes to undertake a project in response to the Community’s vision to become the first Native American irrigation project in the Nation to be carbon neutral and lead by example in meeting the challenges of the water and energy nexus in the southwestern United States. This project will include feasibility studies for two Canal Energy Systems (CES). One feasibility study will focus on the expansion of the current Casa Blanca Canal CES Project and the second feasibility study will focus on the development of the San Tan Canal CES Project. When completed, the two feasibility studies will support future CES project development, which will in tern reduce evaporative losses from the canal and would generate clean, renewable energy to benefit the Gila River Indian Community.
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Dude Forest Health Project Phase 3
Salt River Project (SRP), in partnership with state, federal, local, NGO, and private entities, is implementing a forest restoration project in the Verde and Salt River watersheds in Arizona to mitigate wildfire risks and protect water infrastructure. Focused on the 2,338-acre Dude Phase 3 area, the project aims to address high-severity wildfire threats caused by dense undergrowth following the 1990 Dude Fire. Mechanical treatments will reduce overabundant shrubs and small trees while preserving large and riparian trees, restoring the forest to a fire-resilient state. This work will enhance forest health, improve water quality and flow, and support SRP’s ability to provide reliable water supplies to the Phoenix Metropolitan Area.
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Denver Water Exchange Project Frasier River Tributaries
The Colorado Water Trust (CWT), in collaboration with other organizations, is implementing a water exchange project to restore flows to Fraser River tributaries. This innovative trade involves leasing water from Meadow Creek Reservoir and exchanging it with Denver Water for a reduced diversion from Fraser River tributaries. This coordinated effort restores critical habitat, improves water quality, and supports local water users and recreational economies in the Upper Colorado River Basin. The project aligns with the Colorado River Cooperative Agreement, balancing ecological restoration with water supply needs for Front Range communities.
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CRIT Irrigation System Modernization
Established in 1865, the Colorado River Indian Reservation was set aside for indigenous residents of the Colorado River and its tributaries. Today, the Reservation includes approximately 300,000 acres of lands and is primarily home to four distinct tribes – the Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi, and Navajo. The Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) have territory that stretches along 56 miles of lower Colorado River lands with the majority of their reservation located in Arizona.
In an addition to our 2022 CRIT Irrigation Modernization project, CRIT will expand in installing precision drip irrigation on CRIT agricultural lands. The drip irrigation will replace the current flood irrigation system for alfalfa and cotton production. Drip irrigation is an efficient irrigation method compared to conventional flood irrigation and is expected to reduce water withdrawn from the Colorado River for farming on CRIT lands by 25-50%. Additionally, the improved irrigation is expected to produce a 10% increase in crop yield.
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Colorado River Indian Tribes Irrigation Modernization
Established in 1865, the Colorado River Indian Reservation was set aside for indigenous residents of the Colorado River and its tributaries. Today, the Reservation includes approximately 300,000 acres of lands and is primarily home to four distinct tribes – the Mohave, Chemehuevi, Hopi, and Navajo. The Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) have territory that stretches along 56 miles of lower Colorado River lands with the majority of their reservation located in Arizona.
Irrigation infrastructure on the CRIT lands are in a significant state of disrepair. The CRIT are implementing a number of projects to improve irrigation efficiency. These projects will increase resilience for tribal farm operations by maintaining irrigation for economic development; open the door for tribal water management that can support system conservation agreements to leave water in Lake Mead; open pathways to lease water to support non-tribal water uses in central Arizona; and create the potential to advance/expand environmental benefits on the CRIT reservation.
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Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) Canal Lining
On their Tribal lands, the Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) used geomembrane and concrete to line a segment of a canal measured to have the highest seepage rate on the CRIT Irrigation Project to reduce conveyance loss, more efficiently and reliably deliver water for irrigation, and reduce demand at the CRIT Point of Diversion on the Colorado River. Over time, the project, in combination with a larger suite of irrigation modernization and fallowing actions, will generate “conserved water” that could be used for a variety of purposes that will benefit the CRIT community.
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Aquisense UV-LED Reactors
By working alongside Waterstart and the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA), this project funds a pilot program that makes drinking water from Las Vegas wells safer. The program leverages LED UV technology from the U.K. based company Aquisense that kills microbes at the wellhead, providing an additional treatment to protect the quality of groundwater, an issue for SNWA wells. Our hope is that this technology will be implemented in the future at state- and nationwide levels, providing additional storage and security in water-scarce regions.
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Black River Aquatic Restoration & Thompson Meadow Restoration
Located northeast of Phoenix and 25 miles west of Alpine, the West Fork Black River drains White Mountain, runs right through Thompson-Burro Meadow, and is a major tributary of the Black River. The Black River watershed is part of the largest, contiguous Ponderosa Pine Forest in the United States. It is a crucial headwater source of water supply to the Salt River, a significant water source for Phoenix Valley.
The Thompson-Burro Meadow Restoration is currently being planned and designed through a collaborative grant funded by Bureau of Reclamation. The project is part of a larger, multifaceted forest management plan for the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest that was addressed by a recent U.S. Forest Service NEPA process.
The Black River Aquatic Restoration Project presents a suite of integrated ecological restoration activities designed to reduce fire related risks and restore ecological resilience that will benefit fish and wildlife and improve water security. The project is innovative, comprehensive in scope, and collectively applies forest health and meadow restoration activities, such as thinning, riparian exclusion fencing, tree planting, barrier removal, and construction of process-based restoration structures to improve wetland and hydrologic function. The project’s climate resilience solutions are proactive and forward-looking: restoring natural systems and processes in this location will demonstrate ways to solve risk and water resilience issues in Arizona.