Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden is pressing the Bureau of Reclamation to speed millions of dollars in federal payments to communities that lack reliable access to water, asserting that tribal nations and rural communities have seen their requests “engulfed in red tape and bureaucracy.”
Wyden raised the issue Wednesday during a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power hearing on a host of water infrastructure bills.
“The delay in securing clean drinking water for many rural and tribal communities is unacceptable,” said Wyden, the subcommittee chair. “These communities have enough to worry about … without having to use their limited capacity to jump through a wave of hoops for drinking water.”
Wyden is focused on disbursing funds from the Inflation Reduction Act, which included $550 million for “water access grants” to disadvantaged communities in 21 states and territories.
