Norton Participates in Hearing on Proposals for the Water Resources Development Act of 2022
WASHINGTON, D.C. – RealEstateRama – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today participated in a Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment hearing on proposals for the Water Resources Development Act of 2022. Among other items, Norton has requested that the bill require studies on a secondary drinking water source for the District of Columbia and flood mitigation in Federal Triangle in D.C.
“There is an urgent need for the federal government to act to protect the drinking water and infrastructure of the nation’s capital from serious weaknesses,” Norton said. “I will continue to fight for solutions to these vulnerabilities, and the first step is to conduct thorough studies on the issues.”
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.
With heavy rain projected to become more frequent due to climate change, the Federal Triangle area is increasingly susceptible to flooding. In June 2006, an intense storm produced flooding in the area, which caused power outages and major disruptions to federal and D.C. operations, forcing closures of local businesses, public transportation hubs and federal buildings. Smaller but still significant storms in the area in 2018, 2019 and 2020 resulted in closures of Constitution Avenue, power and transportation disruptions and flooding of buildings.
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