House Passes Water Research Bill With AMWA-Backed Amendments

Washington, D.C. – The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) today applauded the House of Representatives’ passage of H.R. 1145, the “National Water Research and Development Initiative Act.”  The legislation will improve federal water research and development activities through the creation of an interagency committee charged with formulating a National Water Availability Research and Assessment Plan.  The Plan will be designed to coordinate federal, state, local, and tribal government water research and development projects.

As approved by the House, H.R. 1145 includes several AMWA-backed provisions that will help local water utility managers identify and prepare for future water supply challenges.  These provisions include:

• An amendment offered by Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) ensuring that water resource managers have an opportunity to exchange information on water research needs with the interagency committee;
• Language formulated by Rep. Inslee and AMWA specifying that an objective of the Plan is the development of tools to assist local water resource managers in anticipating changing water sustainability and use patterns.  These tools will help local water managers identify and take appropriate steps to prepare for future, region-specific water supply and demand fluctuations that could result from global climate change; and
• An amendment offered by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) to create an EPA-based wastewater and stormwater reuse pilot program.  This program will provide communities with another option to consider when planning for how to best address future water supply reductions.
  

“H.R. 1145 will make several much-needed improvements to federally-sponsored water research, which will generate critical information for America’s drinking water utilities,” said AMWA Executive Director Diane VanDe Hei.  “The amendments offered by Reps. Inslee and Blumenauer will help individual water utilities access the latest information on water supply risks, and take action to plan for sustainable future operations.  We thank each of them, as well as Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon, for their leadership.”