NUCA Statement on Cuts to America’s Water Infrastructure Resources

The National Utility Contractors Association (NUCA) issued the following statement by NUCA Chief Advocacy Officer Zack Perconti regarding the Sept. 3 hearing in the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Environment Subcommittee on the “Safe Drinking Water Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2026” (H.R. 10151):

“The discussion draft of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 2026 circulated by the House Energy and Commerce Committee majority proposes to squeeze the very programs that help keep tap water safe in American homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses. Authorizing a 68 percent cut to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) while communities face a 20-year, $1.2 trillion backlog in drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure needs is not fiscal discipline. It is deferred maintenance disguised as budget savings.

“Lawmakers who say federal water infrastructure investments fall short of what the nation needs are right. EPA estimates that $625 billion will be needed over the next 20 years just to improve drinking water systems. Even with baseline federal funding, the nation faces annual shortfalls of roughly $90 billion for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure. Cutting authorized funding now does not shrink that gap. It guarantees more water main breaks, more boil-water notices, higher costs for local ratepayers, and delayed infrastructure projects that contractors and crews are ready to deliver.

“Water infrastructure is not optional spending. It is public health, economic development, and national competitiveness. Every dollar not invested in pipes, plants, and treatment systems shows up later as emergency repairs, higher utility bills, lost productivity, and avoidable illness and threats to public health.

“As NUCA has said for three years in advocating for strong SRF funding, the time for Congress to act on legislation that begins to address the nation’s water infrastructure needs is now. The Senate is moving in the opposite direction, with legislation that would increase water infrastructure funding to $4.5 billion annually by 2030. Instead of reducing authorized funding, the House should at least match that commitment and fully authorize both critical SRF programs.

“You cannot cut your way to clean water. America is not overinvesting in the systems that deliver safe drinking water. We are underinvesting—and a 68 percent cut would only make that failure more expensive.”