Support Funding for Water Infrastructure in FY 2020!

Write your Members to urge them to provide robust funding for water infrastructure funding programs in the fiscal year 2020 budget!

The Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds programs (SRF) are important financing tools for wastewater, drinking water, and stormwater agencies to build and modernize the water infrastructure that protects public health, the environment, and promotes economic growth.  The water crisis in Flint, Michigan, further highlights how important it is for there to be robust funding to help communities address the challenges of aging water infrastructure.

The Clean Water and Drinking Water SRF programs should be funded at levels that reflect the reality of our nation’s water infrastructure crisis.  The EPA has estimated that $655 billion is needed for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure over the next 20 years – and that doesn’t include another estimated $100 billion needed for stormwater infrastructure.  For FY20 WEF and a coalition of  other national water associations are requesting that the appropriation amounts for SRF programs be doubled.

Also, urge your Members to fully fund the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program in FY20 Congress created this new loan and loan guarantee program in 2014, and in 2015 corrected statutory language to the program to make it more useful to communities seeking low interest financing.   

Finally, please ask your Members to increase funding for the USDA's rural water/wastewater loan and grant program and increase funding for the Bureau of Reclamation's water recycling program to $60 million.

 A 2016 report by WEF and the WateReuse Association revealed that a suggested $34.7 billion of federal SRF spending over 5 years will generate $102.7 billion in total economic input, create more than 507,000 good-paying U.S. jobs, and be nearly budget neutral as that funding cycles through the economy. Click WEF-WRA-SRF Economic Impact Study Report-April-29-2016.pdf to view the report.