Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
P resident Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 federal budget eliminates a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that provides millions of dollars in grants and loans to small water and wastewater systems.
It would have a devastating effect on parts of rural New Mexico.
The USDA’s Water and Environmental Program last year alone provided $6.6 million in grants and loans for New Mexico water projects. The program, tailored to serve rural community and water systems serving 10,000 people or fewer, provides grants and low-interest loans to qualifying projects.
Since 2012 the program has provided $81.6 million in grants and loans for dozens of projects at small water and wastewater systems in 17 New Mexico counties. Without those funds, and USDA oversight, many small water systems would be unable to provide clean drinking water to thousands of rural New Mexicans, some of whom would never have had running water in their homes without the program.
“In New Mexico, something like 85 percent of our water systems serve a population of 500 or less,” says Bill Conner, executive director of the New Mexico Rural Water Association, which represents about 480 water systems.
In his 2018 federal budget plan, Trump says that, instead of continuing the Water and Environmental Program, “rural communities can be served by private-sector financing or other federal investments in rural water infrastructure, like the Environmental Protection Agency’s State Revolving Funds.”
But water systems seeking grants or loans through the program must show that credit was unavailable through conventional lenders at reasonable rates. If they couldn’t get financing then, what are the chances they could get it now?
And, though Trump’s budget calls for boosting the State Revolving Funds by $4 million next year, to $2.3 billion, it would force small water systems to compete with larger and privately owned utilities.
A reasonable argument can be made that the federal government has no business financing local water projects — but unfortunately that’s been the system for years.
This should be a serious wake-up call to the New Mexico Legislature to finally get its capital outlay house in order so it can invest in meaningful infrastructure projects.
— Albuquerque Journal