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Newhouse, Costa Urge Inclusion of Water Infrastructure in COVID-19 Relief Package

May 12, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Reps. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and Jim Costa (D-CA) led a letter to congressional leadership urging the inclusion of critical water infrastructure in the upcoming COVID-19 economic and infrastructure recovery package. Signed by 24 bipartisan Members of Congress, the letter outlines the importance of Bureau of Reclamation water infrastructure projects in addressing water storage, conservation, and delivery to rural areas and municipalities across the country.

"As we begin debate on how to restart the American economy, we believe investing in our nation's infrastructure – and specifically water infrastructure – will create a vast opportunity to address water challenges facing communities in the rural West and across the country," wrote the lawmakers. "A comprehensive COVID-19 economic and infrastructure package must include policies and processes to streamline water projects and provide our communities with the ability to move forward with the construction or implementation of water conservation and delivery systems in an expeditious manner."

The letter continues, "We must deliver on the demands from our constituents for a safe and reliable water supply. With investments in our water infrastructure, we can ensure that our constituents not only have a long-term and reliable water supply for generations to come, but also a safe and resilient food supply as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic."

Full text of the letter can be found here and below.

Speaker Pelosi and Leader McCarthy,

We write to express our support and our willingness to work with you to ensure the inclusion of much-needed water infrastructure provisions in any forthcoming COVID-19 economic and infrastructure recovery package. As Congress considers the next comprehensive relief package, we ask that you include Bureau of Reclamation infrastructure projects to address our nation's most severe hydrological challenges, including water storage, conservation, and delivery.

Over the past several decades, the combination of drought conditions and the lack of federal investments in our nation's water delivery infrastructure has led to severe water challenges and shortages across the country. In recent years, this is especially true for the western United States, where drought conditions, aging infrastructure, incomplete development, and prohibitive landowner costs threaten water delivery to municipalities and agricultural production. In addition to these challenges already present, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are now exacerbating water resource conditions, and our nation's food supply chains, something that will impact each and every American. Agriculture production across the West – which the country's food supply relies upon – are dependent upon the significant water resources supplied by the Bureau of Reclamation projects. These projects benefit the entire nation through the food, fiber, power, and significant economic benefits they generate. A total of approximately $20 billion dollars built the entire Bureau of Reclamation infrastructure system. Every year, this infrastructure provides more than three times this initial investment, returning over $63 billion in direct and associated economic activity.

As we begin debate on how to restart the American economy, we believe investing in our nation's infrastructure – and specifically water infrastructure – will create a vast opportunity to address water challenges facing communities in the rural West and across the country. A comprehensive COVID-19 economic and infrastructure package must include policies and processes to streamline water projects and provide our communities with the ability to move forward with the construction or implementation of water conservation and delivery systems in an expeditious manner. We cannot allow the status quo of hamstringing water infrastructure rehabilitation and development to continue. We must equip water providers with the tools to efficiently address water shortages in order to provide important and desperately-needed services for our constituents. By streamlining outdated, burdensome processes, we can also ensure federal taxpayer dollars are efficiently tackling the severe water challenges facing communities across the country.

We must deliver on the demands from our constituents for a safe and reliable water supply. With investments in our water infrastructure, we can ensure that our constituents not only have a long-term and reliable water supply for generations to come, but also a safe and resilient food supply as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. As the House of Representatives considers a comprehensive infrastructure package in response to COVID-19, we stand ready to work with you to ensure our nation's water needs are addressed in this important effort.