APRIL ROUNDUP
Water & Health Advisory Council
The need for investment in the U.S. water system is at an unprecedented level. On average, 14 to 18% of total daily treated potable water in the United States is lost through leaks, with some water systems reporting water-loss rates exceeding 60%. Much of the nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure was built in the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, the share of federal capital investment has declined, putting most capital-funding responsibility on state and local governments, which are increasingly juggling several funding priorities. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than $744 billion funding is necessary to upgrade our current drinking water infrastructure to meet federal water quality and public health and safety requirements.

Funding from the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 (DWWIA) is spread over 5 years for the restoration and improvement of drinking water infrastructure in the United States. Most of the funding directed towards the objectives of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was provided to Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (DWSRF). Roughly six times the average annual appropriations for SDWA programs was provided in the DWWIA. Other DWWIA funding was directed towards goals contained in new EPA authorities focused on specific objectives outside the SDWA’s goals.

Congress established the DWSRF to provide states sustainable, long-term financial assistance to support their communities’ water infrastructure needs. The DWSRF grants states the authority to determine their own SRF priorities and projects. While the DWWIA funding is a necessary and timely investment, its dispersion across multiple Congressionally directed objectives and new programs combined with EPA implementing guidance enlarges the role of the federal government in the state-run SRF programs.

Water Advisory Insights
AWWA SOURCE Magazine: Does Regulating PFAS Represent a Meaningful Opportunity for Health Risk Reduction in Drinking Water?
Council member Chad Seidel’s research was featured in the Winter 2022 issue of American Water Works Association’s Source Magazine. Chad, along with his co-authors Katherine Alfredo and Amlan Ghosh, recently released a peer-reviewed analysis that sets a new way for policymakers to analyze toxic contaminants throughout the US.
Member Blog: Council Statement on the Drinking Water State Revolving Funds
The Water & Health Advisory Council strongly believes that states must have greater leeway over how drinking water revolving fund dollars are spent. States should determine how and where these funds will achieve the public health goals of the SDWA. Drinking water utility managers and water district leaders have the greatest insights on local challenges and must be given the discretion to set priorities within the SDWA’s objectives.
Water News
From emergency climate-induced weather conditions to ongoing aging infrastructure needs, our nation's water supply is at risk. We must prioritize what best protects public health for the greatest number of people.
EPA Announces Additional $1.9 Billion in State Revolving Loan Funds for Water Infrastructure Upgrades
WASHINGTON  – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $1.9 billion in grant funding to the State Revolving Funds (SRF) to accelerate progress on water infrastructure projects. Combined with historic investments through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this funding will help states, Tribes, and territories upgrade water infrastructure to provide safe drinking water, protect vital water resources, and create thousands of new jobs in communities across the country. 
KUNC NPR for Northern Colorado: Lake Powell is critically low, and still shrinking. Here’s what happens next
Lake Powell is in crisis. The nation’s second-largest reservoir is strained by more than two decades of drought, and its water levels are slipping dangerously low. In March, the reservoir passed an important threshold. Water levels dipped below 3,525 feet – the last major milestone before a serious threat to hydropower generation at the Glen Canyon Dam. The future of the reservoir is largely uncertain, but climate science and recent actions by the government are providing some hints as to what might happen in the near future.
Bloomberg Law: Small Waterworks Navigate ‘Once in a Generation’ Flood of Money
Nationally, disadvantaged rural communities face big hurdles to getting their slice of the infrastructure funds for water, most of which will be distributed through the Environmental Protection Agency’s State Revolving Fund (SRF). Application processes are daunting, technical assistance is scarce, and many small water systems don’t have the money or staff to design shovel-ready projects needed to apply.
Washington Post:California braces for extreme summer drought after dismal wet season
California’s water officials on Tuesday continued to paint a grim picture of the state’s sapped water supplies as it endures a third year of severe drought. April storms that brought welcome rain and snow did little to alter that trajectory and were not nearly enough to overcome a record dry start to the year. Despite erratic bursts of precipitation since October, snowpack on April 1 was the fifth-lowest on record since 1950, state climatologist Michael Anderson said. It sits at just 22 percent of average as of May 10.
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