Norton Highlights D.C. Provisions in House-Passed Water Resources Development Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced victories for D.C. included in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024, which passed the House today. Norton requested several provisions for D.C., all of which were maintained.

The bill includes a Norton provision making the Washington Metropolitan Area secondary drinking water supply study, which Norton got included in the 2022 WRDA, federally funded at 90%. It also includes Norton provisions authorizing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to conduct a feasibility study for a project for ecosystem restoration, recreation, dredging and sediment management of the Anacostia River and a feasibility study for a project to improve recreation by dredging Fletcher's Cove.

"There is an urgent need for Congress to act to protect the drinking water and other infrastructure of the nation's capital from serious vulnerabilities, and I am pleased the bicameral, bipartisan WRDA bill contains my provision for a study on the topic funded by the federal government at 90%," Norton said. "Due to sediment accumulation over time, many parts of the federal navigation channel in the Anacostia do not meet the current formal depth requirements, so I'm pleased my provision for a study on dredging the Anacostia was included in WRDA. A similar problem exists in Fletcher's Cove on the Potomac River, which I was able to get addressed in the House-passed bill."

D.C. is wholly dependent on the Potomac River for its drinking water, but natural or man-made events could render the river unusable for this purpose. The federally owned and operated Washington Aqueduct produces drinking water from the river for D.C. and parts of Virginia. However, the aqueduct maintains only a single day of backup water supply. Many other highly populated metropolitan areas like New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco have a second source of drinking water, and many are in the planning stages for a third source.

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