Climate change, aging facilities and population shifts have long been catalysts for needed investment in environmental infrastructure. But it took Flint, Mich.’s water-supply issues, which rose to a crisis level last year with news of the city’s extensive lead-tainted supply, to catapult sector needs higher on legislative agendas and into the public consciousness.
Key sector owner groups, including the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and the American Water Works Association (AWWA), are optimistic that the attention will spur faster congressional action on final passage of Water Resources Development Act legislation by year-end that will authorize billions of dollars for flood protection, harbor dredging, environmental restoration and infrastructure projects, including millions of dollars to aid drinking-water line upgrades in Flint and other municipalities with similar issues. While different, House and Senate versions of the bill passed with overwhelming support, with hope the kinks can be worked out in the lame-duck session of Congress, even with potential major post-election shifts in its makeup. According to NACWA, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has publicly stated that WRDA passage is a priority.
