The U.S. Congress is currently debating various large infrastructure packages to potentially be passed this summer. This includes various pieces of legislation supporting our nation’s water infrastructure. NGWA and its partners are strongly urging policymakers to support water well infrastructure in any infrastructure legislation that may advance through Congress. This includes advocating for additional eligibility for grant funding to rural and underserved communities to rehabilitate, deepen, or replace water wells. 

By supporting water well infrastructure in Congress, we will:

• Save homeowners and federal, state, and local governments millions of dollars in costly public water system repairs and connections. 
• Push back local mandatory-hook up laws by giving homeowners more options to source their water.
• Increase water quality and efficiency in small and rural communities across the country. 

For more information check out our Water Well Infrastructure Packet.

We are asking you to email your elected officials today and ask them to support Water Well Infrastructure! Click here to get started.

Below is a sample letter you may use to contact your representative and we urge you to make the letter as personal and relevant to your local communities as possible. 

Sample Letter:

I am a groundwater professional writing to encourage you to support our nation’s water wells in any upcoming infrastructure legislation that advances through Congress. The National Ground Water Association is the nation’s leading non-profit association representing water well contractors, groundwater scientists, engineers, and practitioners. As a member of the National Ground Water Association, and a groundwater professional, I know firsthand the important role private and municipal water wells play in communities across the country. 

Homeowners should have the option for assistance to fix or replace their wells to meet applicable standards and apply cost-effective household treatment if necessary.

To better improve our nation’s water well infrastructure, we are first proposing that the rehabilitation, deepening, and replacement of water wells be grant eligible for small and disadvantaged communities within the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Amending the Safe Drinking Water Act to allow grant funding for the rehabilitation, deepening, and replacement of water wells would:

• Allow homeowners in rural and disadvantaged areas more options to cost-effectively manage their water source locally.
• Increase water quality in rural and disadvantaged communities. 
• Save state and federal financial assistance funds to be applied to other communities’ water infrastructure needs. 

Here are some facts about groundwater and water wells:

• There are over 15 million residential water wells in the United States serving over 40 million people, most in small and rural communities. 
• Replacing and rehabilitating water wells is a more cost-effective choice for both homeowners and communities in sustaining the nation’s water infrastructure. 
• Most all rural and disadvantaged communities in the country rely on water wells for water supply.
• Replacing and rehabilitating water wells is often the best long-term solution to increasing water quality for communities and homeowners. 

Water wells play a vital role in our nation’s water infrastructure although there is an unfortunate lack of federal funding made available to states, communities, and non-profit organizations to update water wells in rural and disadvantaged areas through rehabilitation or replacement. While connecting homeowners to public water systems is certainly an option, it is often one that comes at great expense to the homeowner and the community, which raises the cost of water supply for everyone. It is also a less efficient form of water delivery since pipelines leak on average 16 percent of the water they distribute.