Proposed Trump Budget Would Slash Rural Water Funding

Rural water utility funding took a major hit in a budget proposal from President Trump.

The budget blueprint is a partial description of Trump’s proposals for U.S. spending, Reuters reported. A more complete version is expected in May.

The blueprint eliminated the water and wastewater loan and grant program from the federal Agriculture Department (USDA) budget, calling it “duplicative.”

“Rural communities can be served by private sector financing or other Federal investments in rural water infrastructure, such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s State Revolving Funds,” the budget proposal says.

The USDA funding program “is made up of loans and grants that specifically target rural areas with a population of fewer than 10,000 people. The program provides low-interest loans and grants for water and sewage projects in rural areas,” The Daily Times of Salisbury, MD, reported.

Rural water experts sounded off against the proposal, per The Daily Times.

"I don't believe that to be true at all," said Barb Otten, administrative aid for the Somerset Sanitary District in Maryland. "I voted for Trump as well, but in Somerset County, one of Maryland's poorer counties, people pay what they can. If this budget were to be cut, we'd see a lot of people's homes going up for tax sale."

Kim Moses, public information officer for Worcester County, said USDA funding has been vital to water and wastewater projects in her area.

"To be honest, I can't think of any water or wastewater project that hasn't received some amount from the USDA in the time I've been here," Moses said, per the report.

USDA’s Water & Waste Disposal Loan & Grant Program provides funding for the following types of projects, according to the department:

• Drinking water sourcing, treatment, storage and distribution
• Sewer collection, transmission, treatment and disposal
• Solid waste collection, disposal and closure
• Storm water collection, transmission and disposal

The proposal to slash the grant program is part of a larger set of proposed cuts that would trim the USDA by budget by $4.7 billion, according to The Washington Post.

To read more about utility financial planning visit Water Online’s Funding Solutions Center.