ALBANY – A group of interested parties joined State Senator Michelle Hinchey in Albany on Wednesday to urge state leaders to fund her proposal for the Safe Water Infrastructure Action Program in the FY’24 state budget.
SWAP would provide municipalities with a continuous funding stream through the state budget to help them more efficiently plan for and finance water system replacements and repairs. Hinchey secured $100 million or the program as part of the Senate’s one-house bill in the Environmental Protection Fund.
“Access to clean and safe water is a fundamental right that we have enshrined in our own State Constitution, and yet, in communities across our state, this access is threatened by failing water infrastructure and one-time grants that rarely make their way to the small towns and cities that urgently need them,” said Hinchey. “I’m proud to lead the charge with a solution through the Safe Water Infrastructure Action Program (SWAP), which will deliver reliable, continuous support to help municipalities fix broken lines now and plan long-term water system maintenance. Our Senate one-house commits a historic $100 million for SWAP, and we will continue fighting to include it in the final budget to ensure clean water for all New Yorkers while saving municipalities time and money.”
The senator notes that New York has some of the oldest water infrastructure in the nation — some service pipes date back over 200 years, well past their useful life, and others are still made of materials, including wood and lead, which are causing costly breaks for municipalities and dangerous public health impacts for New Yorkers.
Since the 1980s, two-thirds of all water infrastructure investment has come from state and local governments due to federal disinvestment. However, she said the money currently allocated for water system upgrades in New York rarely reaches smaller communities, which often lack the staff and resources to obtain this funding, forcing many to defer modernization projects. Over the next 20 years, an estimated $22.8 billion is needed to improve all of New York’s drinking water systems alone, with 64 percent specifically needed for water main repairs and replacements.
