Central ND News

For nearly three decades, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) have been essential for drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater projects. Since 2021, more than $3.7 billion has been diverted from CWSRF and DWSRF to fund Community Project Funding and Congressionally Directed Spending, also known as earmarks. Without changes in the appropriations process, each State Revolving Fund's formula funding will face significant shortfalls for critical water infrastructure projects.

U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) and U.S. Representatives Brittany Pettersen (D-CO-7) and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) in sending a bicameral, bipartisan letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committees detailing concerns over federal financing of water infrastructure. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) injected resources into the CWSRF and DWSRF formula programs, but when this supplemental funding expires, state funding streams will be further cut by competing earmark requests.

"The Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds have been critical to expanding access to clean water, modernizing aging water infrastructure, and safeguarding our public health," wrote the members. "If funding shortfalls and diversions continue, a major lifeline of our federal water infrastructure funding will run dry at a time when costs for infrastructure, design, and planning are skyrocketing."

"Congress made a concerted effort to invest in our aging water infrastructure through the BIL," continued the members. "The law seeded $43 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, providing a critical boost for dire repairs. However significant this historic one-time infusion may be, it will eventually run out. SRFs pay dividends for our water infrastructure and are necessary to further BIL investments. For these reasons, we urge the Committee to invest in sustainable funding sources for SRFs."

Over $80 million in Fiscal Year 2024 funding was awarded to North Dakota for water infrastructure upgrade projects, including $28.6 million from the DWSRF in May. Over the last three years, North Dakota’s SRF program received over $200 million.

"We are grateful for Senator Cramer’s support of North Dakota’s State Revolving Fund Program," said DeAnn Ament, Executive Director of the North Dakota Public Finance Authority. "The SRF program plays a crucial role in enabling communities and water districts to invest in their facilities, thereby maintaining and improving critical services in the state. Diverting funds away from the SRF program reduces available resources for investments in our water infrastructure and we applaud Sen Cramer's efforts to fix this problem."