San Bernardino receives $5 million for hazard management

Rep. Pete Aguilar visited a soon to be retrofitted steel reservoir in San Bernardino this week to announce $5,552,952 in federal funding for the San Bernardino Municipal Water Department’s Local Hazard Mitigation program. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding will increase the quality of water services for San Bernardino residents while bolstering reservoir infrastructure to reduce potential hazards.

“Extreme weather events are becoming more prevalent here in the Inland Empire and we must act now to ensure we are prepared,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar. “Ensuring our infrastructure is up-to-date and resilient in the face of floods, earthquakes, wildfires and other natural disasters will help keep residents safe.”

“The funding awarded under the Local Hazard Mitigation grant will increase the reliability of essential water services for the San Bernardino community.” said Miguel Guerrero, General Manager for the San Bernardino Municipal Water Department. “The four steel reservoir retrofits funded by this grant reduce potential hazards such as flooding or supply interruption resulting from tank damage or failure and are critical to support firefighting activities during a catastrophic event.”

FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program provides funding to state, local, tribal and territorial governments to develop plans to reduce or mitigate the impact of disasters on their communities.