The Biden administration is touting new spending to upgrade “drinking water infrastructure upgrades” in Arizona.
The $87 million plan is intended to support areas that need assistance in providing clean water to residents, with some officials saying that it would particularly benefit Native American and rural communities.
“Providing technical assistance is critical to ensuring that all Americans, especially in tribal and disadvantaged communities, develop water infrastructure projects that meet their drinking water and wastewater needs,” EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said in a statement. “These funds will enable more communities to access technical assistance, modernize their drinking water infrastructure, and ensure safe drinking water for generations to come.”
In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency credited the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for helping financially support the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, saying that the EPA got a $6 billion “boost” to support their efforts.
“These funds will go a long way to ensuring Arizona’s small public water systems continue to serve healthy drinking water,” said Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Director Karen Peters. “With these funds, ADEQ will be accelerating a new project to assist small water systems in conducting their lead service line inventories.”
On Thursday, the Biden administration announced an additional investment of up to $233 million to the Gila River Indian Community for “water conservation,” officials said at a Thursday news conference. Of that, $50 million is from the Inflation Reduction Act.
“These are truly historic investments,” Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian community said.
“This project is not just by America, but by Arizona,” Lewis later added when mentioning how Arizona businesses are being utilized in the upgrades, particularly for the reclaimed water pipeline.
Tribes have been struggling with water issues for years. The Navajo Nation, for example, has tens of thousands of residents who struggle to get clean drinking water, according to the Navajo Water Project. An administration official said Thursday that they’re still part of discussions in terms of improvements.
The spending from the federal government is part of a larger effort nationwide to pour more money into water infrastructure projects.
“This is what the country looks like when it works,” Biden administration senior advisor Mitch Landrieu said.
Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
