Sullivan, Padilla Lead Senate Resolution Recognizing “National Water Week”

04.22.24

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) today thanked their colleagues for unanimously passing their bipartisan Senate resolution recognizing the week of April 7, 2024 through April 13, 2024 as "National Water Week."

The resolution recognizes that every community in the United States deserves to have access to affordable, safe, and clean drinking water, sanitation, and other critical water infrastructure. The resolution also highlights the hurdles to guaranteeing this access, like aging infrastructure, emerging contaminants, a lack of resiliency to extreme weather, and drought and water scarcity in parts of the country. The senators' resolution also recognizes the important role federal investments play in addressing these challenges and improving water affordability and reliability.

"Every American deserves clean, safe drinking water," said Sen. Sullivan. "As a resource-rich but infrastructure-poor state, Alaska has lagged behind most others in terms of access to this most basic necessity of life. I've long urged my colleagues to prioritize investments, not only in communities that have aging or broken infrastructure, but in communities that have never had such infrastructure to begin with. We've made great progress in that regard through my work on the EPW Committee and in the Infrastructure Investments & Jobs Act, reaching more unserved communities. I want to thank Senator Padilla for again joining me in passing a resolution declaring 'National Water Week' and highlighting Congress's duty to help disadvantaged communities across our great country gain sufficient access to drinking water and sanitation infrastructure."

"Access to safe, clean drinking water is a human right, yet more than two million Americans, including over one million Californians, lack access to this basic necessity in their homes," said Sen. Padilla. "As communities across California recover after months of record-setting atmospheric rivers and catastrophic flooding, we must invest in stormwater recapture and improved water management infrastructure. Amid skyrocketing water rates, our resolution reaffirms our commitment to establishing reliable, affordable water systems for all, including tribal and disadvantaged communities."

In addition to Padilla and Sullivan, the resolution is cosponsored by Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).

Below is the full text of the senators' resolution.

Designating the week of April 7 through April 13, 2024, as "National Water Week".

Whereas each community in the United States, both large and small, and urban, rural, and Tribal, deserves to have access to affordable, safe, and clean drinking water, sanitation, and other critical water infrastructure;

Whereas more than 2,000,000 people in the United States lack access to running water, indoor plumbing, or wastewater services;

Whereas small, rural, and disadvantaged community water systems struggle to make needed investments while keeping rates affordable;

Whereas Federal investment in core drinking water, wastewater, stormwater capture, sustainable desalination, and water recycling programs allow local utilities and the customers of those local utilities to have the resources to affordably improve in water reliability and meet Federal regulatory obligations;

Whereas source control is a critical first step to reducing emerging contaminants from entering water systems and the environment, along with advancing the state of the science on the risks of those contaminants, which is essential to protect public health;

Whereas water infrastructure projects often rely on specific products and technologies, and substitutions may not be readily available, so it is critical to consider the realities unique to the water sector, and the near-term challenges that water infrastructure projects face;

Whereas countless disadvantaged communities in the United States struggle to make needed investments in critical water infrastructure while simultaneously keeping rates affordable;

Whereas water research helps solve some of the most pressing challenges for the water sector, such as-

(1) aging infrastructure;

(2) emerging contaminants;

(3) resiliency to extreme weather;

(4) drought and water scarcity; and

(5) significant shifts in population;

Whereas research and development aimed at finding cost-effective solutions to the most pressing challenges for the water sector-

(1) create more resilient and effective water systems;

(2) create new jobs and support thriving communities nationwide; and

(3) result in improved public health and safety and promote equitable solutions throughout the United States; and

Whereas Congress and the executive branch should assist water utilities to ensure that those communities can continue to fulfill their core mission of protecting public health and the environment while supporting local economic growth by addressing challenges related to-

(1) managing aging water infrastructure, and escalating operation and maintenance costs, supply chain disruptions, and workforce shortages;

(2) addressing growing water quality impairments and regulations from emerging contaminants and nutrients; and

(3) ensuring proper climate adaptation, system resiliency, and security measures are in place: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That Congress hereby designates the week of April 7 through April 13, 2024, as "National Water Week".

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