By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News

A new piece of bipartisan legislation from Sen. Jon Curtis (R-Utah) and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) would provide $50 million in grant funding for communities to implement new water technologies. 

The Water Infrastructure Modernization Act would fund projects that can identify water loss, examine pipe integrity, detect leaks, prepare for severe weather, innovate water storage systems and more.

The bill would accomplish this by amending the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to reauthorize the pilot program for alternative water source projects, and for other purposes.

“Across Utah and the West, communities face real challenges with aging water systems, drought resilience, and growing demand,” said Sen. Curtis. “The Water Infrastructure Modernization Act empowers local leaders to adopt next-generation technologies and reflects our pioneer values of innovation, thrift, and stewardship, and puts modern tools in the hands of those closest to the land.” 

This proposed legislation comes at a time when across the Castle Country, municipalities are searching for ways to improve and repair their water systems. In Carbon County, Helper and Price both raised rates to gain grants and low-interest loans to repair aging infrastructure.

“In the West, we know that every drop of water matters,” said Sen. Gallego. “By investing in the latest technologies, we can make our water systems more efficient – saving communities water and money.”

Support for the measure has been shown outside of the two senators, with the Association of Municipal Water Agencies stating, “Emerging smart water technologies hold the potential to help water systems identify trends in water use, detect potential infrastructure failures before they happen, and more efficiently manage water resources overall.”

Currently, the bill has been introduced and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.