Bipartisan lawmakers push back on water earmarks

By Miranda Willson | 07/15/2024 01:36 PM EDT

House legislation would spend roughly $1 billion for lawmaker-backed projects.

Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.).

Rep. Brittany Pettersen (D-Colo.) is among the lawmakers expressing concern about water earmarks. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling on House and Senate appropriators to increase funding for water infrastructure projects, warning that a key source of low-cost loans and grants could run dry.

Water advocacy groups have long been expressing concern about the amount of money being used for congressionally directed spending, or earmarks. Now, some lawmakers say they are also worried about the health of popular programs.

The House fiscal 2025 Interior-Environment bill would divert about $1 billion from state-run federal loan programs — known as the Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, or SRFs — to specific projects favored by members of the House and Senate.

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Established over 30 years ago, the state revolving funds, support projects that make drinking water safer, reduce runoff from storms and build or improve sewage treatment systems, among other needs.

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