AMWA President Pat Mulroy called on Congress to help water utilities respond to persistent drought by increasing water research and developing innovative infrastructure financing mechanisms during testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee last week.
Testifying in her capacity as General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, Mulroy outlined the challenges facing water agencies in the West suffering through their 13thyear of drought. She said her utility encourages water conservation measures and has worked with other water systems to bank water cooperatively.
Mulroy provided several examples of how the federal government can help water systems manage drought impacts. While stressing that water agencies must be financially self-sufficient, she urged approval of a Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) to help utilities finance large-scale water projects, and H.R. 765, which would authorize a new EPA program to help water systems respond to the impacts of climate change and extreme hydrological changes. Mulroy said these measures would help “make an ever-increasing financial burden tolerable” to water systems, and added that Congress must also maintain the tax-exempt status of municipal bonds.
Aside from infrastructure financing assistance, Mulroy explained the critical need for “focused, applied research” that helps water systems develop adaptation strategies for both water quality and water supply challenges and recommended partnering with the Water Research Foundation on these efforts. She and other witnesses also said state and federal agencies should coordinate efforts to reduce water use in the energy sector.
The Energy and Natural Resources Committee has posted all testimony from the April 25 hearing on its website.