TFTT Report

Food & Water Watch’s (FWW) Executive Director Wenonah Hauter recently criticized a proposed expansion to the existing Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA), a policy that allows for increased financing for water infrastructure projects.

It’s not surprising that FWW, a DC-based lobbying group that vehemently objects to all infrastructure solutions that include the private sector, also objects to WIFIA.  After all, this is a group that puts its own anti-private ideology above any practical, common sense proposal to provide much-needed infrastructure investment solutions for communities across the country.

Here are four ways Food & Water Watch gets it wrong on WIFIA:

Food & Water Watch Claim: “[WIFIA] results in lost revenue and subsidize[s] a flawed program.”

Reality: WIFIA uses private sector investments to increase federal funding. Advocates of the program, including Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., know that public water utilities have an immense need for funding, and thus have championed WIFIA to ensure public water can leverage private sector investment.

Food & Water Watch Claim: “WIFIA competes with the State Revolving Funds (SRF)…and places inappropriate pressure on communities to privatize their water systems.”

Reality: According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, WIFIA only finances large dollar-value projects. Therefore, WIFIA does not compete with SRF programs; instead it simply fills the potential gap left open for water infrastructure projects that need financing and cost more than $20 million.

Food & Water Watch Claim: “It is imperative that the federal government uphold its commitment to funding local water systems, not create incentives to abdicate this critical function to private companies.”

Reality: Public sector water policy organizations such as the American Water Works Association, the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, and the Water Environment Federation all support WIFIA. These groups know that the policy will help to improve community water systems with increased funding, not force privatization on communities.

Food & Water Watch Claim: “Instead, President Obama and Congress should create a steady source of federal funding for community water systems by prioritizing funding for the SRFs to ensure that everyone in the United States has reliable access to safe, clean, affordable water.”

Reality: Given the federal budget deficit and aging water systems, communities need more innovative ways to invest in and finance water infrastructure projects. WIFIA, which has broad bipartisan congressional support, simply serves as a tool to finance expensive, long-term infrastructure needs so that all communities can have access to safe, clean and affordable water.