“Clean water and sanitation are not luxuries — they’re the lifeblood of civilization,” thundered National Utility Contractors Association past Chairman Dan Buckley at the March 11 U.S. House hearing on water infrastructure financing and the EPA’s state revolving funds.
The hearing — held by the U.S. House of Representative’s Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment — featured NUCA and three other expert witnesses. NUCA’s Buckley hammered home in his testimony this key takeaway of the industry and the importance of the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Drinking Water SRF.
“We need more federal investment," said Buckley. “The scale of this crisis demands it. As Congress debates the future of federal spending, lawmakers should consider reallocating more dollars towards these essential programs. Every dollar invested in water systems yields exponential returns in public health, economic growth, and environmental protection. By fully closing the water infrastructure needs gap, we could add as much as $4.5 trillion to the national GDP over the next twenty years.”
The EPA's 7th Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey, released in 2023, estimated a water infrastructure construction need of $625 billion over 20 years, Buckley told the committee, while the EPA’s Clean Watersheds Needs Survey, released in 2024, estimates 20-year needs north of $630 billion – a 73% increase from the last survey in 2012.
“Combined annual needs are more than $1.2 trillion. Together, these suggest annual water infrastructure needs of approximately $60 billion, while funding for SRFs contributes only about $7 billion in annual investment towards these needs. Supplemental funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act has been a step in the right direction but was only authorized until fiscal year 2026, so annual SRF appropriations are still essential.”
Buckley explained that the SRF system has faced persistent challenges that undermine its ability to meet the nation’s growing needs. The resources allocated to the SRF by Congress have never fully matched the scope of the problem. The American Society of Civil Engineers and the EPA both estimate that the U.S. needs to invest more than $1 trillion over the next 20 years just to maintain and upgrade our drinking water and wastewater systems. Yet, annual SRF funding has hovered only in the billions — not nearly enough to address the backlog of projects waiting in the queue. At the current pace of investment, we will still fall a trillion dollars short.
“Closing that gap starts with fully reauthorizing the SRF programs at or above Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act levels for the next five years, expanding WIFIA funding, and considering other dedicated funding streams to support both programs,” Buckley concluded.
Buckley also discussed with subcommittee chairman Rep. Mike Collins (R-Georgia) and ranking member Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Florida) several directions for reform, including the Congressional earmark process for water infrastructure. In the 118th Congress, just over half of the combined SRF appropriations were diverted to drinking water and wastewater project earmarks, leaving 39 states with a net loss of federal water infrastructure funding.
Congressionally directed spending on water infrastructure should be in addition to SRF funding, rather than undermining this critical program according to NUCA. “Additionally, Congress should remove the pay-as-you-go requirement from SRF funding,” reads a recent NUCA press release. “Water infrastructure is a capital investment with long-term benefits. Finally, our nation must encourage more private investment. Private Activity Bond reforms would incentivize private capital to flow into water projects, supplementing public funds and accelerating repairs.
NUCA’s government affairs department asked former NUCA chairman Buckley (term served 2018-19) to testify when the Committee reached out to the association for an expert witness. An executive with NUCA member Garney Construction, Buckley is a seasoned senior-level civil construction professional with over 30 years of experience in heavy civil construction and the water/wastewater industry. He has also served as president of the NUCA Washington, D.C. chapter, and chairman of the Washington Building Congress.
The March 11 subcommittee hearing is online and can be viewed via the committee’s website at transportation.house.gov. NUCA’s written testimony is also available via the same link.
