For decades, Congress has authorized, modified, and funded federal programs to help communities address water supply and water infrastructure needs. Departments and agencies that administer these assistance programs include the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA). In general, Congress has utilized two approaches to authorization and funding: individual project authorization and program authorization. Reclamation and USACE administer a number of individual projects pursuant to direct authorizations from Congress. Other agencies administer programs with standing authorizations that establish funding eligibility criteria. As a practical matter, individual project authorizations generally must be funded each year and provide no guarantee of predictable assistance over time. Although the authorized programs are not guaranteed to receive annual appropriations, in recent years Congress has generally provided some level of annual appropriations to the water infrastructure programs identified in this report. The federal agencies responsible for administering water-related projects and programs undertake these activities pursuant to wide-ranging missions with varying scopes. For example, EPA’s authorities relate to protecting public health and the environment, whereas HUD and EDA focus on community and economic development. Some agencies’ activities are national in scope (e.g., USDA and EPA), while others are regionally focused (e.g., Reclamation’s programs and projects, which are limited to the 17 “reclamation states” in the West). Some focus primarily on urban areas (HUD), whereas others concentrate mainly on rural areas (USDA). Federal funding for these programs and projects varies greatly and continues to compete with many other programs that are supported by discretionary spending. Some of these programs have received supplemental appropriations, such as the funds provided in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA; P.L. 117-58), the American Relief Act (P.L. 118-158), and the FY2025 reconciliation act (P.L. 119-21). FY2026 appropriations highlights include $746 million for capitalization grants to states under EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) program, and $411 million for EPA’s Drinking Water SRF program; $893 million for wastewater infrastructure, and $715 million for drinking water infrastructure through community project funding/congressionally directed spending (IIJA provided an additional $2.6 billion for each SRF program); $3 billion for EPA’s Drinking Water SRF program for lead service line replacement and related activities; $72 million for subsidy costs for the EPA-administered Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program, allowing the agency to provide credit assistance of about $6.5 billion; $370 million for loan subsidies and grants for USDA’s rural water and waste disposal programs to, in part, support $1 billion in loan authority for direct loans and guaranteed loans; $3.3 billion for HUD’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program (water and wastewater projects are among many eligible uses); $1.5 billion in supplemental funding (P.L. 118-158) for EDA disaster economic recovery efforts, which may include, but are not limited to, water supply or wastewater projects; $360 million for USACE environmental infrastructure projects; and $63 million for Reclamation water storage projects, $212 million for Reclamation rural water projects, and $176 million for Reclamation’s Title XVI reclamation/recycling projects. For FY2027, the Trump Administration’s discretionary budget request proposed to reduce or eliminate funding for a number of water infrastructure programs identified in this report.
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