WEF Joins Other Organizations To Support Water Infrastructure Legislation

The Water Environment Federation (WEF; Alexandria, Va.) joined 14 other organizations to send a letter to U.S. Rep. Lois Capps (D–Calif.) supporting H.R. 765, the Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act of 2013.

On Feb. 15, Capps introduced the bill, which will offer competitive matching funds to help the nation’s water, wastewater, and stormwater agencies undertake projects to adapt their infrastructure to extreme weather events and changing hydrological conditions. The bill will authorize $50 million for grants each fiscal year from 2014 through 2018. Owners and operators of water infrastructure systems could compete for grants matched by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the cost of the program, strategy, or infrastructure improvement. The legislation also encourages water systems to use innovative infrastructure approaches. Local water utilities will be able to use funding assistance to increase their use of renewable energy or conduct local-level analyses of future water resource challenges.