The following organizations endorse the Water Affordability, Transparency, Equity and Reliability Act (WATER Act) of 2021, introduced by Rep. Brenda Lawrence and Rep. Ro Khanna, and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
The WATER Act will promote safe, affordable, publicly controlled water for all.
Key provisions:
1. Provide $35 billion a year to drinking water and wastewater improvements;
2. Create a water trust fund with dedicated revenue from rolling back a small portion of the Trump administration’s corporate tax cuts by increasing the corporate income tax rate by 3.5 percentage points;
3. Create up to nearly 1 million jobs across the economy and protect U.S. workers;
4. Prioritize disadvantaged communities with grants and additional support;
5. Expand funding for technical assistance to small, rural and indigenous communities;
6. Fund projects to address water contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS);
7. Dedicate and increase grants for indigenous communities;
8. Upgrade household wells and septic systems;
9. Help homeowners replace lead service lines; and
10. Provide more than $1 billion a year to update water infrastructure in public schools.
