The U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Agriculture passed its funding bill on June 4 for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which included $15 million in funding for the Household Water Well System grant program.
NGWA has been a leading advocate of this program since its inception. The program provides grant funding for qualified nonprofits to create revolving loan funds to help communities afford improvements to well and septic systems.
At the 2019 NGWA Groundwater Fly-In, this issue was a core priority for attendees to talk about with their congressional delegations, and the strong support shown by NGWA members for the program is partly responsible for the increase seen in the bill. NGWA partnered with several allied organizations in promoting this increase, including the Rural Community Assistance Partnership, National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association, and the Water Systems Council.
The legislation still needs to pass the House floor, go to conference with a Senate-passed version, and ultimately be signed into law by President Donald Trump, so it will be several months before the final funding levels for the program are determined.