IIJA Expanded DWSRF Funding, But Demand Outpaces Available Dollars

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Written By Danielle Goshen

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) delivered a large federal investment in drinking water infrastructure, substantially increasing Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) capitalization grants over FFY22—FFY26. These additional resources have provided states with significant opportunities to finance critical drinking water infrastructure, including lead service line replacement (LSLR), emerging contaminants (EC), water treatment, and other system improvements.

But has this increase in SRF funding kept pace with the demand from communities seeking assistance?

As part of EPIC’s DWSRF Funding Tracker, we analyze Intended Use Plans (IUPs), associated project lists, and other program documents across 15 focus states to better understand how DWSRF programs operate and identify opportunities to improve access to funding. Using these data, we compared project demand—represented by the total cost of projects included on each state's comprehensive project list—to the funding available for projects during the first four IIJA years and a pre-IIJA comparison year (typically SFY22—SFY26).

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Danielle Goshen

Danielle is the Senior Water Infrastructure Policy Analyst at EPIC. Prior to joining EPIC in 2024, Danielle worked on National Wildlife Federation's Texas Coast and Water Program as their Policy Specialist/Counsel where she collaborated with government, industry, and NGO stakeholders to improve water policy across Texas. Prior to her work at NWF, Danielle was the Water Policy Specialist at Galveston Bay Foundation. She attended the University of Toronto for her Honours Bachelor's degrees in Environmental Geography and Environmental Studies, with a minor in Geographic Information Studies. Danielle later earned her J.D. at the University of Georgia School of Law, where she was president of the Environmental Law Association. During her time at Georgia Law, Danielle interned at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 4 office and served as a Georgia Sea Grant Legal Fellow working on coastal resiliency policy.

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