Water utility organizations, municipal representatives and a coalition of big-city mayors all wrote to President Obama late last month requesting support for strong federal investments in drinking water and wastewater infrastructure funding programs.
A coalition of 21 mayors from across the U.S. wrote to the president on January 28 asking that he “prioritize investments in water infrastructure” over the next two years. Sent on the day of President Obama’s State of the Union address, the letter cited a U.S. Conference of Mayors study that identified $4.8 trillion worth of water infrastructure investment years over the next 20 years and highlighted the job-creating potential of spending on water projects.
Days later, on January 31, AMWA was part of a coalition of water utility and municipal organizations that sent a letter to the White House requesting strong support for the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) when the president sends his fiscal year 2015 budget request to Congress next month. The groups asked that the budget request include at least $1.449 billion and $907 million for CW and DW SRFs, respectively – equal to each program’s final FY14 appropriation.
The White House has announced that President Obama will submit his FY15 budget request to Congress on March 4.