Advocacy Action Needed!

FY 2020 Appropriations for Priority Programs

Each year, congressional appropriators decide how much federal funding our priority programs will receive. And each year, they look to their constituents for guidance on what those funding levels should be. The Energy & Water and Interior-Environment Appropriations Subcommittees are in the process of making funding decisions right now. As they do so, they will be reviewing constituent input and talking with other Members of Congress to determine priorities.

Now is the time to reach out to your Member of Congress to ask them to support investments in water reuse through the federal appropriations process!

We suggest that you make one or more of the “asks” listed below. When you call, ask for the staffer who handles water issues and tell them that you are calling about FY 2020 appropriations. If the front office transfers you to that staffer’s voicemail (which is common!), leave a message:

Bureau of Reclamation’s Title XVI-WIIN Water Reclamation and Reuse Program (Note: Title XVI-WIIN is a component of the overall Title XVI program): $100 million
Bureau of Reclamation’s Desalination Program: $20 million
Sections 2005 (Drinking Water Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability Program), 2007 (Innovative Water Technology Grant Program), and 2013 (Community Water System Risk and Resilience Program) of America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018: $4 million for SEC. 2005; $10 million for SEC. 2007; $25 million for SEC. 2013
Clean Water State Revolving Fund: $3.388 billion
Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Program: $70 million
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund: $1.3 billion
National Priorities Water Research Grant Program: $20 million

To take action, call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. Ask for your Representative or Senator, and once they connect you to the office, ask for the staffer who handles water. Let them know who you are and where your entity operates, and then make your ask!

If you want to talk or prep with us first, please call Greg Fogel, WRA’s Policy Director, at 571-445-5506. Thank you!!