Lively draft law on water infrastructure escapes Senate – languishes in the house | Apache County

A $ 35 billion water infrastructure bill passed by the U.S. Senate at large margins is stuck in the House of Representatives and caught in a larger debate over federal spending.

The Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 would provide funds for wastewater, sewage, drinking water, groundwater and water treatment projects.

The bill provides a $ 50 million fund for projects on reservations because about a third of the people on the Navajo reservation do not have access to drinking water unless they truck it to their homes.

The water systems and storage grant could have less of an impact on Rim Country and the White Mountains than many other areas in the state. Payson, Show Low, Pinetop, and other cities in the area are among the few rural communities with long-term water supplies – which would provide both areas with a secret weapon if the state’s water crisis intensifies.

The Senate Water Infrastructure Act provides half of the $ 3.5 billion over four years to water systems that serve between 10,000 and 100,000 people. The bill would also provide money for the removal of lead pipes in drinking water systems, as lead in drinking water increases the risk of mental health and learning problems in children.

Only two US Senators voted against the law – Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Mike Lee, R-Utah.

This contrasts with the partisan stalemate that stalled President Joe Biden’s larger $ 1.9 trillion infrastructure bill. Senate Republicans have countered with a package of roughly $ 900 million – much of it in existing programs or diverted from already approved COVID-19 remedies.

The move to increase federal funding for water infrastructure projects comes at a moment of crisis in Arizona.

The state is facing the first rationing of water from the Colorado River, which meets about a third of the state’s needs – primarily in Pinal, Maricopa, and Pima counties. After a bone-dry winter, Lake Powell and Lake Mead have dropped water levels to their lowest levels since the reservoirs were replenished in the 1960s.

Arizona and Nevada are the last seven states with rights to water from the Colorado River. So cutting off supplies to the state’s Colorado River would require more groundwater pumps.

However, the state is already in a smoldering crisis when it comes to pumping over groundwater.

The state had to pass groundwater management plans for counties that received water from the Colorado River as a condition of federal funding for the Central Arizona Project. However, landowners are free to pump as much groundwater as they wish in the state’s rural counties.

As a result of a combination of drought, population growth, and the demands of huge farms that can afford to dig deep, high-capacity wells, water levels are falling rapidly in most states.

Numerous bills have been tabled in the state legislature to address the groundwater crisis, but most have died on committee – including half a dozen bills this year.

However, lawmakers passed a fantastic resolution calling on the federal government to investigate the construction of a 1,500 mile pipeline on and across the continental divide to bring the Mississippi floods into Arizona.

In 2012, the US Bureau of Reclamation was actually investigating the feasibility of pumping 600,000 acre-feet from the Missouri or Mississippi annually. However, the office concluded that it would take 30 years to build such a project, and the cost of pumping all the water uphill would make it much less economical than other options – including nature conservation.

Most of the water Arizona uses goes to agriculture – including growing water-intensive crops like cotton, alfalfa, and lettuce. The 336 mile long project in central Arizona cost $ 4 billion about 40 years ago. It provides 1.5 million acres of feet annually, but loses approximately 66,000 acres of feet annually to seepage and evaporation. The project started in 1973 and lasted 20 years.

Among the more plausible projects under investigation now is building a desalination plant in the Sea of ​​Cortez to provide 200,000 acre-feet annually, freeing Mexico’s claim to the waters of the Colorado River.

Another three-state project under investigation involves recycling California sewage into farm and drinking water – which could save 170,000 acres of water annually.

However, climate scientists predict that the flow of the Colorado River is likely to continue to decline in the coming decades, which could undo even these far-fetched efforts. Many water experts say the state needs to learn to use less water, which could limit growth in places like Pinal County and Buckeye and dry up water supplies for large farms outside the reserve.

Ironically, the crisis could rebound to the benefit of Rim Country and the White Mountains – virtually the only rural areas in the state with adequate water supplies. Payson has rights to 3,000 acre-feet of CC Cragin Reservoir annually – more than doubling its long-term water supply. The White Mountains enjoy the most rainfall and the deepest snowpack in the state – with most areas relying on groundwater relatively close to the surface.

The region’s reserve population is facing greater challenges. The vast Navajo reservation has been hit by drought, and a third of households have no access to water and sewage systems. The White Mountain Apache Reservation has more water, but it also has many areas with unreliable wells or water systems. As part of an extensive water settlement, it is building a dam and a water system with the federal government.

The Senate’s $ 35 billion water infrastructure bill could provide grants to reserves and other rural areas to improve their water and sewer systems if it gets through the house.

At the moment, the increasingly bitter blockade between Republicans and Democrats on Biden’s larger infrastructure plan takes precedence over the gradual passage of the water infrastructure bill.

A national survey of Arizona’s infrastructure gave the state a C grade. The study listed 132 bridges and 3,100 miles of freeway as in poor condition and in dire need of repair.