Final week, Rep. John Duarte (R – Modesto) launched the bipartisan Water Infrastructure Modernization Act to create federal grant applications aimed toward rising the usage of good water applied sciences. 

Duarte teamed up with Arizona Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego to creator the invoice. 

The large image: The Water Infrastructure Modernization Act would supply $50 million in new EPA funding for grants which water utilities can use to buy and implement new expertise. 

• Such expertise consists of figuring out water loss, analyzing pipe integrity, detecting leaks, getting ready for extreme climate and innovating water storage programs, amongst others. 

• The grants can be dished out in two applications over a five-year interval. 

By the numbers: In line with the Environmental Safety Company, ageing and outdated infrastructure results in the lack of 2.1 trillion gallons of handled consuming water and 900 billion gallons of untreated sewage nationwide yearly. 

• These infrastructure points served because the driving power behind Duarte and Gallego creating the invoice. 

Go deeper: The grant applications would put aside 20 % of the funds for communities which have a most of 10,000 individuals. One other 10 % can be put aside for Tribal communities. 

What they’re saying: “I believe it’s pretty low-impact enhancements that might yield an additional million acre ft of water for California, which is an enormous deal,” Duarte mentioned. “Right this moment, with the identical infrastructure we had in place 20 years in the past, we’re truly delivering 2.5 million acre ft much less water than we used to. So hopefully with the brand new expertise we will get again at the least nearer to the place we had been.” 

• Duarte mentioned he’s pleased to cross the aisle and accomplice with Gallego on the invoice to work on “smart options to extend our water availability.” 
• “It’s $50 million,” Duarte mentioned. “It’s not going to construct fully new dams, however each in his district and my district we’ve bought quite a lot of infrastructure that simply must be upgraded. We have to apply some applied sciences. There’s quite a lot of circulate expertise, automated weirs that may enhance the effectivity.”