AMWA is urging members of the Senate to take another look at a provision of S. 601, the “Water Resources Development Act of 2013” (WRDA) that could pose new difficulties for some community water systems that rely on federal reservoirs for water supply needs.
As approved by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in March, Section 2015 of S. 601 would require congressional approval for any modification to the storage allocation of an existing reservoir managed by the Army Corps of Engineers or the Bureau of Reclamation, if the modification would result in the cumulative amount dedicated to local water supply exceeding 5 percent of the reservoir’s conservation storage. Several municipal water systems that currently store water in federal reservoirs have raised concerns that this new restriction could complicate their future ability to secure necessary water supplies.
AMWA is working to make members of the Senate aware of these concerns before the chamber votes on the WRDA bill. The legislation could be on the Senate floor by mid-May.
The Section 2015 issue is unrelated to Title X of S. 601, which would establish a new WIFIA loan program for major water infrastructure projects.