Drinking water and clean water agencies are looking to President Joe Biden’s $1.9-trillion COVID-19 stimulus plan for additional relief as many continue to provide service to millions of customers unable to pay their bills. And those delinquencies hurt even more than they would have in the past because federal and state money for water infrastructure has been declining in recent years.
Steve Dye, the Water Environment Federation’s director of legislative affairs, says, “The majority of utilities generally haven’t had to make major cuts for immediate planning or immediate funding needs yet, because [most] have reserves to draw from.”