Approximately 90% of the costs for building drinking water and wastewater systems are paid for by ratepayers; the rest supported by federal funds. The Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that $388 billion will be needed between 2000 and 2019 to maintain and rebuild our nation’s clean water infrastructure

Federal support for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure investments are currently financed through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, respectively.  

The money to finance these SRFs must be re-appropriated by Congress each year, but as the funding gap increases, Congress is appropriating less federal dollars year after year.  Significant additional resources are needed to maintain existing demands on water systems, as well as to fund new mandates on water quality and new security issues, yet funds continue to be cut and a large gap remains.

SRFs should be increased, not decreased. 

Moreover, a dedicated funding stream should be made towards improving water infrastructure in the form of a trust fund.  A trust fund is essential because:

• it is widely recognized that infrastructure like this provides the foundation for our economy,
• investment demands of billions of dollars are of federal proportion
• federal investment is cheaper, as it is tax free and doesn’t require a profit margin
• the federal government is able to make investments on a long term horizon
• federal funding enables a basic level of service to all Americans, regardless of where they live of how much they earn

We already have federal trust funds for both highways and airports.  Why not water?