Congress moved America’s Infrastructure Act and its critical Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), Title I, forward to the President for signature on October 10. The WateReuse Association congratulates Congress for taking these important steps to support our most valuable resource – water.

“Investment in water reuse builds communities that are modern, sustainable, and stable—ready for families to flourish and businesses to grow. In some communities, recycled water can create a resilient and drought-proof water supply. In other communities, water recycling protects sensitive waterways and alleviates over-burdened centralized treatment facilities. Across the country, communities and businesses investing in water reuse are ensuring that residents have safe drinking water supplies, industries have water to expand and create jobs, farmers have water to grow food, our environment is protected, and our economic future remains strong and secure,” stated Executive Director, Patricia Sinicropi.

Several provisions contained in the Act enable greater adoption of water reuse by communities interested in pursuing this approach. The WateReuse Association is very pleased with the passage in Title I, Section 1164 Local government water management plans,which helps advance water reuse by aligning water resources development projects supported by the Army Corps of Engineers with local water management plans. Many local management plans include projects such as stormwater capture and reuse, water recycling, and aquifer recharge.

Other provisions of note, which will be critical to advances in recycling water include:

• Section 2004, encouraging the use of non-potable water recycling to address water demand challenges, particularly for industrial applications, sends an important signal to both the private and public sectors to consider a water recycling approach for their water supply needs.
• AnInnovative Water Technology Grant Program in Section 2007, which establishes a grant program for innovative water technology including water reuse or recycling and technologies to increase water supplies for two years at $10 million annually.
•  Reauthorization of the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (Title IV, Section 4201), a critical financing tool for water infrastructure including water reuse infrastructure, which continues to provide low-cost financing tool for water recycling infrastructure.

“As regions across the country face changing hydrologic conditions and water resource management challenges, water recycling will become an increasingly important tool to sustain communities. America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 contains key provisions that will help advance the adoption of water recycling nationwide,” Sinicropi emphasizes. A copy of the legislation is available here.

About the WateReuse Association

The WateReuse Association is the only national trade association dedicated solely to advancing laws, regulations, funding and public acceptance for water recycling. Our members include utilities, businesses, and institutions that are achieving water resiliency through policy, projects, innovation, education and knowledge sharing.