Newhouse’s bipartisan bill aims to reinforce nation’s water infrastructure

U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) on Oct. 11 sponsored bipartisan legislation to help local governments maintain and repair Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) water supply infrastructure around the country.

“As a farmer, former state director of agriculture, and now a congressman representing one of the most flourishing agricultural regions in America, I fully understand how important it is that we reinvest in the water infrastructure our farms and communities were built upon, much of which is over a century old at this point,” said Rep. Newhouse. “I have made it a priority to address these important issues for central Washington and rural communities across the West that have Bureau of Reclamation projects in their regions.”

Rep. Newhouse introduced the Water Supply Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Utilization Act, H.R. 4659, with cosponsors U.S. Reps. Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Kim Schrier (D-WA) to fund upgrades or replacement costs beyond regular maintenance for some 80 percent of the BOR’s facilities that are more than 50 years old, according to a one-page bill summary provided by Rep. Newhouse’s office.

“That is why I am introducing this legislation: to help local water managers access the funds they need to repair and rebuild aging facilities and ensure our existing surface storage facilities are operating as efficiently as possible,” he said last week.

If enacted, H.R. 4659 would bolster the Safety of Dams program to improve the structural integrity of BOR dams across the nation and provide flexibility in reservoir storage for flood control, according to the congressman’s bill summary.

H.R. 4659 also would address BOR’s maintenance backlog by creating a streamlined application and review process, and would establish a revolving Aging Infrastructure Account for maintenance projects that would allow repayment of funds to be used by BOR on future projects without additional appropriations, according to the summary.

H.R. 4659 is companion legislation to the same-named S. 2044 introduced in June by U.S. Sens. Martha McSally (R-AZ) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). S. 2044 on Sept. 25 received approval from the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.