Remember 1987? Big hair, shoulder pads, and apparently, the last time anyone bothered to update how federal clean water funds are divvied up. Well, buckle up, because a new bipartisan Senate bill wants to drag that formula into the 21st century.
The proposed change is pretty simple: states that are actually growing will get more money. The trade-off? Other states will see their funding shrink. Because apparently, even water infrastructure funding can't escape the laws of supply and demand.
Senators Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) are behind the "Clean Water Allotment Modernization Act of 2026." Their goal? Ditch the fixed-percentage formula from the Reagan era and base funding on, you know, current needs.
We're a new kind of news feed.
Regular news is designed to drain you. We're a non-profit built to restore you. Every story we publish is scored for impact, progress, and hope.
Start Your News DetoxHow the New Formula Flows
The new system is a bit more nuanced than just 'who's growing.' It breaks down like this:
- 60% will be based on a state's documented infrastructure needs. Because you can't fix what you don't measure.
- 20% will come from the state's population, according to the latest census. Which makes sense, as people tend to use water.
- 20% will consider the state's share of its population living at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. Because clean water shouldn't be a luxury.
This new approach aims to better align the funding with the EPA's actual goals for water quality and affordability. Which, if you think about it, seems like a pretty good idea.
A 2024 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) crunched the numbers using 2022 data. The result? 31 states would see their funding stay the same or increase, with some getting a whopping 260% boost. Meanwhile, 19 states would face cuts, some as deep as 53%.
To soften the blow, the bill includes a four-year transition period. Annual increases are capped at 200%, and decreases won't exceed 25%. So, no state is going to wake up to a sudden, catastrophic drought of dollars.
Senator Scott put it plainly: it's time to bring the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) into this century. Senator Kelly highlighted Arizona's rapid growth and the stagnant water infrastructure funding that just hasn't kept pace. This bill aims to bridge that gap.
Take Florida, for example. Its share of CWSRF funds would jump from 3.43% to about 6.16% after the transition. That's a lot more splash.
The EPA estimates that a cool $630 billion is needed over the next two decades to fix and replace the nation's clean water and wastewater infrastructure. The CWSRF is crucial, providing low-interest loans and grants for everything from sewer repair to wastewater treatment upgrades. Basically, it keeps our water flowing clean, and our drains, well, draining.
The bill has now moved on to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for review. Here's hoping it gets a clean pass.
