Today the House Interior Subcommittee will mark up the appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2024 Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Bill. The proposed spending legislation includes historic, unprecedented cuts to the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds SRFs), the main source of federal funding for our nation’s water and wastewater systems. 

The spending legislation would provide $535 million for the Clean Water SRF and $461 million for the Drinking Water SRF – the lowest levels in the history of the programs. It is a total cut of 64 percent, or $1.8 billion, from current funding levels. The SRF programs have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support. 

These massive cuts are coming at a time when the needs of our nation’s water and wastewater systems are substantial and growing. A recently released drinking water needs survey found a 32 percent increase in total need since the previous assessment. A variety of factors are increasing the cost for local public providers, including aging infrastructure, increasingly severe wet weather events that overwhelm systems, and stronger water quality regulations necessary to protect public and environmental health. 

In response, Mary Grant, Public Water for All Campaign Director at Food & Water Watch issued the following statement:

“House Republicans should be ashamed of themselves. Their spending proposal threatens the very safety of our country’s water and wastewater systems for the sake of political showmanship. Local communities in every state rely on State Revolving Fund programs to make necessary improvements to keep water and sewer systems safe and reliable. These programs are widely popular across the political spectrum and have historically enjoyed bipartisan support since they were created under the Reagan administration. 

“This far-right radicalism seeks to undermine the essential programs of a functioning government. We cannot allow our country to return to an era when rivers were on fire and communities across the country faced unmitigated toxic water threats. The proposed cuts would leave many with unsafe water and exacerbate the nation’s water affordability crisis, adding more pressure on household water bills at a time when families are already grappling with soaring costs for essential services.

“The Senate must reject this outrageous proposal out of hand. Safe water should not be a political bargaining chip, nor used to score cheap political points. Safe water is non-negotiable. Congress must pass the WATER Act (HR 1729, S 938) to safeguard federal water funding from these foolishly political annual appropriations battles.”