WASHINGTON — Call it a not-so-harmonic convergence for water-starved communities in the West.

On one hand, the 470 dams, 58 hydroelectric plans and 300 other facilities administered by the Bureau of Reclamation are inching past old age to where some are decrepit. In fact, the average age of the facilities is now more than 50 years, and many are well beyond their expected life span.

Coming the other direction is suburban sprawl, which has dramatically increased the demand for more and better quality water.

"There will be even greater demands placed on the West's limited water resources and Reclamation's aging projects, many of which are well beyond their designed life," said Tony Willardson, deputy director of the Midvale-based Western States Water Council.

"The billion dollar question is how should Reclamation programs and projects be funded?"

Water experts from across the nation testified Tuesday before the House Subcommittee on Water and Power, with most telling lawmakers that more federal assistance, not less, is needed to bring existing facilities up to standard and build new facilities to meet the burgeoning demand.

For example, enclosing the Provo Reservoir Canal is expected to save tremendous amounts of water, but it will cost $120 million. And the Salt Lake Aqueduct, which runs from Deer Creek Dam to a terminal reservoir at Little Cottonwood Canyon, is "now in dire need of repair and rehabilitation," said Keith Denos, president of the Utah Water Users Association. The cost for that project alone is $300 million.

And even though the water officials were successful in getting some federal matching money, "the $150,000 and $300,000 grants that were awarded do not go very far in addressing the hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure rehabilitation costs needed for just this one Reclamation project," Denos said in his official testimony.

Last year, Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, pushed through legislation transferring title of the aqueduct and canal to the Metropolitan Water District and the Provo River Water Users Association, respectively. That makes it possible for both projects to apply for low-interest state or private loans.

Other water projects around the country are watching with interest, seeing non-federal ownership as one possible solution to the funding crisis.

Because water facilities are owned by the Bureau of Reclamation, the water associations who deliver the water to farms and homes have no collateral to offer lenders. And without collateral, there is no money to repair the water systems or invest in greater efficiencies.

But if the federal government is willing to give up title to the water associations, while still committing some federal assistance, low-interest state and private water development loans could be directed at the problem.