Denham nails down project financing as part of $6B water infrastructure bill

The U.S. Senate on Oct. 10 overwhelmingly approved a massive $6 billion water infrastructure bill that includes related project financing legislation written by U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham
(R-CA).

Rep. Denham’s New WATER Act, H.R. 434, as part of America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018,
S. 3021, is expected soon to be signed into law by the president.

“My New WATER Act will allow us to leverage non-federal investments and finance the construction of new water storage in California for the first time in decades,” Rep. Denham said following the Senate’s vote on Wednesday. “This is real progress that will benefit our community for generations to come.”

H.R. 434, now a provision in the larger bill, would provide financing for water projects throughout the western United States, including new reservoirs, below-ground storage projects, recycling and desalination projects, according to a statement released this week by the congressman’s office.

Rep. Denham’s provision also would authorize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to finance federal Bureau of Reclamation projects under the Water Infrastructure and Innovation Act program, according to the statement.

Additionally, Denham language included in the Senate-approved S. 3021 aims to improve flood protection in his home state’s San Joaquin County via flood-control protection measures and hasten a feasibility study of Reclamation District 17, which includes the French Camp veterans treatment facility, according to Denham’s statement.

“The U.S. Senate passed my New WATER Act as part of America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 (WRDA), clearing the way for President Trump to sign it into law. This has been a longtime project in the making,” Denham tweeted on Oct. 10.

Earlier today, the congressman tweeted an update regarding his ongoing efforts to resolve a water controversy in California that threatens reservoir reserves, hydropower generation and fresh water supplies in his Central Valley district.

“I’m fighting to protect the Central Valley from Sacramento’s water grab and save our farms and communities,” tweeted Denham this morning. “I brought the @EPA acting administrator to the Central Valley today and will continue to bring the administration here to see firsthand the damage this plan would have.”

The lawmaker also recently requested that President Donald Trump step in and end the controversy over amendments he opposes that are proposed by the California State Water Resources Control Board to the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary.

Rep. Denham alleges that state bureaucrats “are attacking Central Valley residents” at both the state and federal levels, and in his letter he called their actions “an unprecedented assault on our water, our economy, and our livelihood.”  

“The future of the Valley is at stake, and I am asking your administration to intervene and stop these attacks,” Rep. Denham wrote in a Sept. 28 letter sent to Trump.