E&E News reported in July that House lawmakers proposed cutting $1.77 billion from the requested amount from the White House when they proposed cuts to Interior-Environment Appropriates, which included $995.6 million each for the Clean Water SRF and the Drinking Water SRF.
In their letter, the organizations, which includes Water Environment Federation, American Water Works Association, National Association of Clean Water Agencies and others, shared three reasons why the full funding is necessary. Those include:
Clean water is foundational to protecting public health.
Demand for SRF financing for water and wastewater systems has increased exponentially.
Failure to fully fund will jeopardize the current and projected pipeline of water and wastewater infrastructure projects.
According to Wastewater Digest, "water industry leaders pointed to historic inflation levels and lingering impacts of pandemic pricing as reasons for the 40% increase as well as regulatory pressures and rising interest rates."
Katie Johns, editor-in-chief of Stormwater Solutions, graduated from the University of Missouri in 2016 with a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish. Johns joined the Stormwater Solutions team in September 2019. Johns also helps plan the annual StormCon conference and co-hosts the Talking Under Water podcast. Prior to entering the B2B industry, she worked as a newspaper reporter and editor in Sarasota, Florida, and a magazine assistant editor in the Chicago suburbs. She can be reached at [email protected].
