Norton Highlights D.C. Provisions in the Newly Enacted Thomas R. Carper Water Resources and Development Act of 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) announced victories for D.C. included in the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources and Development Act of 2024, which President Biden signed into law over the weekend.

The newly signed law includes one of Norton's provisions making the Washington Metropolitan Area secondary drinking water supply feasibility study, which was included in the 2022 WRDA, federally funded at 90%. It also includes two of Norton's provisions authorizing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to conduct a feasibility study for a project for ecosystem restoration, recreation, dredging and sediment management of the Anacostia River and sea walls and a feasibility study for a project to improve recreation by dredging Fletcher's Cove.

"I am pleased that this law contains my provision for a study on a secondary drinking water supply funded by the federal government at 90%," Norton said. "Due to sediment accumulation over time, many parts of the federal navigation channel in the Anacostia do not meet the current formal depth requirements, so I'm pleased that my provision for a study on dredging and sediment management of the Anacostia was included. A similar problem exists in Fletcher's Cove on the Potomac River, which I look forward to seeing addressed."

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. Other highly populated metropolitan areas like New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco have a second source for drinking water, and many are in the planning stages for a third source.

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