Last week, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee marked up the Water Resources Development Act of 2026 (WRDA), which included a section for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. While WRDA authorizes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pursue activities related to the improvement of rivers, harbors, and inland waterways, the committee expanded this package to include a number of drinking water and wastewater program authorizations. Ahead of the markup, AMWA submitted a letter to the committee expressing support for the legislation, specifically the water infrastructure section.
The bipartisan legislation, led by Chairman Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) and Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), was passed unanimously through committee. The bill reauthorizes key expiring water infrastructure programs, including the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds (SRFs) and the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program. It increases the Clean Water SRF authorized funding from $3.25 billion to $3.5 billion per year and the Drinking Water SRF authorized funding from $3.25 billion to $3.7 billion per year before growing to $4.5 billion over the next four years. It also authorizes WIFIA at $65 million, consistent with the existing funding level.
Importantly, the bill contains reauthorizations for several AMWA-led programs, including the Midsize and Large Drinking Water System Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability grant program. AMWA spearheaded efforts to establish the program in 2021, with the goal of helping drinking water systems prepare their infrastructure to withstand the effects of changing hydrological conditions, mitigate impact of floods or drought, and strengthen defenses against cyber threats. WRDA also includes reauthorization of the Reducing Lead in Drinking Water grant program, which AMWA helped create in 2016 to provide drinking water systems with another avenue to fund lead service line replacement efforts.
Additionally, WRDA includes language to create a program at EPA to bolster participation in and support for the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC), a nonprofit organization that helps water systems mitigate and respond to cybersecurity threats. This program is based on an AMWA-led bill, H.R. 2344/S. 1118, the Water Intelligence, Security, and Threat Protection Act. The association has been advocating for this bill with congressional offices and committee staff, and highlighted it as one way to address cybersecurity concerns during EPW’s February hearing on cyber challenges for systems.
AMWA is pleased to see many of its priorities included in the legislation, and applauded the bill in a press statement last week. The association will continue to collaborate with the House Energy and Commerce Committee to ensure that its own version of a water infrastructure bill moves forward in the legislative process.
The association encourages all members to reach out to their representatives through the Legislative Action Center to urge approval of a similar water infrastructure package.