**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
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Contact: Dan Hartnett
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| December 16, 2009 |
202-331-2820 |
View/Print pdf
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AMWA Statement on Drinking Water Funding in Jobs Bill
More Attention Needed for Underserved Urban Communities
Statement of Diane Van De Hei, Executive Director, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies:
AMWA is pleased that the “Jobs For Main Street Act” recognizes the job-creating potential of water infrastructure projects by providing $1 billion for drinking water projects – equal to the amount made available for wastewater infrastructure. Based on previous estimates that every $1 million invested in water infrastructure directly creates 8.7 jobs, and each of these jobs leads to 3.68 jobs elsewhere in the national economy, the $2 billion for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure included in the bill will put more than 64,000 people to work. Unfortunately, AMWA is concerned that the legislation will distribute these dollars through a mechanism that limits funding in urban areas.
As was the case in January’s "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act" (ARRA), the current jobs bill would direct states to distribute drinking water infrastructure dollars to states through the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program. But since the inception of the Drinking Water SRF, urban drinking water systems serving more than 100,000 people have only received 23 percent of funds distributed through the program. This is despite these large utilities providing drinking water to 46 percent of the U.S. population and representing 35 percent of the drinking water sector’s total infrastructure need, according to EPA’s 2007 Drinking Water Needs Survey. What’s more, to date only about 16 percent of drinking water infrastructure funds made available through ARRA have gone to urban water systems.
While the jobs bill’s $1 billion investment in drinking water systems is a positive step, Congress should direct states to devote a percentage of their share of these funds to drinking water infrastructure projects in metropolitan communities. This temporary fix would create well-paying construction jobs and rehabilitate aging water infrastructure in America’s cities. AMWA encourages Congress to enact this common-sense provision.
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The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies is an organization of the largest
publicly owned drinking water suppliers in the United States.
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