Tell Congress to Stand Up for Clean Water and Oppose Proposed Cuts!
New York and Connecticut’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure is aging and failing, putting our economy, health, and environment at risk. Regrettably, the President has proposed to slash critical clean water infrastructure programs by nearly 90%, which if adopted, would severely worsen NY and CT’s clean water challenges. Significant funding cuts would hamper our ability to stop sewage overflows, treat drinking water for toxic emerging contaminants, make drinking water affordable to all, and create good-paying jobs.
While the administration has proposed massive cuts, Congress has the power to fully fund these programs in the federal budget. We need NY and CT’s Congressional Delegations to reject these draconian cuts and protect clean water funding! Contact your two U.S. Senators and Representative in the U.S. House today and urge them to support full clean water funding in the FY2027 federal budget!
BACKGROUND
A look at New York and Connecticut’s clean water challenges:
It is estimated that there are at least 555,696 lead drinking water service lines in New York and over 52,774 in CT. Lead is a toxic heavy metal—there is no safe level of exposure to lead in drinking water, especially for infants and children. All lead pipes must be replaced.
According to reports generated by New York’s Sewage Pollution Right to Know law, there are 5 overflows of raw or partially treated sewage into New York waters every day. According to reports generated by Connecticut’s Sewage Right-to-Know law, approximately 2.8 billion gallons of raw or partially treated sewage were discharged into waterways in a single year.
Across the nation, there is a water main break every two minutes, and an estimated six billion gallons of treated water is lost each day. Water main breaks not only threaten access to clean drinking water, but also close schools and businesses, cause sink holes that damage roads, and hurt local economies.
The American Society of Civil Engineers gave New York and Connecticut’s drinking water infrastructure and wastewater infrastructure grades of C- and D+, and C and C-, respectively.
While repairing and replacing New York and Connecticut’s clean water infrastructure is imperative, it is also costly. The EPA conservatively estimates that it will cost nearly $90 billion and $12 billion to upgrade NY and CT’s wastewater and drinking infrastructure over 20 years, respectively.
Federal Clean Water Infrastructure Programs are Essential to Protecting Clean Water
Congress created the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) in 1990 for the construction and repair of sewage infrastructure, and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) in 1996 to upgrade drinking water infrastructure and ensure safe water at the tap. Since the inception of each program, New York State has financed $37.1 billion in CWSRF projects and $10.1 billion in DWSRF projects. Connecticut has financed approximately $4.6 billion in CWSRF projects and $488 million in DWSRF projects. These programs have helped to support the construction of thousands of projects across NY and CT that have reduced harmful sewage overflows, protected drinking water from toxic contaminants, created thousands of good-paying jobs, and more!
President Proposes Massive Cuts to both Clean Water Programs
The President issued his budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. He has proposed draconian cuts to both programs, which would nearly eliminate them. His budget request includes a:
90.5% cut to the CWSRF ($1,483,861,000 cut)
86.7% cut to the DWSRF ($976,101,000 cut)
The President proposed similar drastic cuts last year—due to pushback from the public and members of Congress, the cuts were rejected and funding for both programs remained flat in the final FY26 budget. It is critical that we push back and fight for clean water once again!
Thank you for taking action!
Sincerely,
All of Us at CCE
