Washington’s water utility is making a play to buy the federal infrastructure that delivers the capital city’s drinking water in a bid to assert control over the region’s uniquely fragile supply.
DC Water’s move to acquire the Washington Aqueduct — a 150-year-old system of conduits, pumping stations and treatment plants owned and operated by the Army Corps of Engineers — could align with the Trump administration’s efforts to slash the federal budget by selling off real estate. But the potential transfer has alarmed neighboring water utilities that also buy water from the aqueduct and is getting a chilly reception from the Army Corps.
The situation comes as DC Water is dealing with the fallout of a massive raw sewage spill, which has drawn lawsuits from the Justice Department and Maryland. By controlling its own water supply — the Washington Aqueduct — in addition to the water distribution system, the utility argues that it could reduce the risk of future disasters and advance water reuse, a technology the Trump administration also aims to scale up.
“Recent operational challenges, combined with renewed federal interest in reducing non-mission-critical assets, have created a meaningful window to evaluate a potential transfer,” DC Water spokesperson John Lisle said in an email.
