Rep. Pete Aguilar announced that the San Bernardino Municipal Water Department (SBMWD) has received a $500,000 grant from the US Department of the Interior’s WaterSMART grant program. The funding will be used to help SBMWD modernize metering technology, providing more accurate water-usage data and helping to support water conservation in the region.

“Inland Empire residents know that water is a precious resource, and that we need these types of investments to help us conserve water and keep utility costs down. I’ll continue working in Congress to deliver meaningful federal investments into our region’s infrastructure,” said Aguilar.

“This is the first step toward a new metering system which will improve services for our ratepayers and help ensure a more resilient water supply for the San Bernardino region. This WaterSMART grant helps kickstart the first phase of the Advanced Metering Infrastructure Project. It will fund installation of communication infrastructure, upgrade 7,500 services to smart meter technology and connect a quarter of the Department’s water meters to an advanced metering network which will provide real-time water consumption data. The Department is honored to be one of the projects chosen for funding and we are ready to get to work,” said Miguel Guerrero, General Manager of the San Bernardino Municipal Water Department.

Rep. Aguilar serves on the House Appropriations Committee, the committee responsible for funding federal agencies and programs.