05.08.24

85 Yakima Residential Properties to Get Safer, More Reliable Drinking Water Thanks to $4.9M Federal Grant

Residents currently rely on deteriorating wells, some more than a century old, susceptible to contamination and drying out; Connecting homes to the city’s water supply will increase water conservation and improve public health

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Patty Murray (D-WA), announced that the City of Yakima will receive a $4.9 million grant to connect 85 residential properties to the city’s potable water and sanitary sewer systems.

The shovel-ready project, which was identified and prioritized in the city’s 2017 Water System Plan, is being funded as part of a $147.6 million nationwide investment by the Department of the Interior to help communities prepare and respond to water reliability challenges.

“Most of the State of Washington is in a drought emergency, with the Yakima region being hit the hardest. Connecting Yakima neighborhoods that currently rely on deteriorating wells to the City of Yakima’s water system will help conserve water supplies and ensure more Yakima households have safe water to drink,”  Sen. Cantwell said.

“This funding will help the City of Yakima provide a reliable source of drinking water for hundreds of residents who currently rely on shallow private wells that are vulnerable to drought and contamination. It’s exciting to see the investments we’ve made through the Infrastructure Law, the Inflation Reduction Act, and the appropriations bills I write as Chair reaching every corner of the country and every community in Washington state. This project will better protect public health and improve drought resilience for communities in Yakima—it really matters,” said Sen. Murray, Chair of the Appropriations Committee.

Currently, residents in Northeast and South-Central Yakima neighborhoods rely on private wells for drinking water and septic systems for wastewater discharge. Some of the wells were built over one hundred years ago in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The wells are shallow, ranging from 25 feet to 80 feet below the ground surface and are typically situated close to septic systems. This proximity poses significant health concerns because of the wells’ susceptibility to contamination. Also, shallow wells are less reliable, posing challenges during drought emergencies. Replacing the wells is economically unfeasible for residents, resulting in the condemnation or abandonment of some properties.

Project construction is anticipated to start in November 2024 and is estimated to be completed in August 2025. The funding announced today comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Inflation Reduction Act, and annual appropriations.

Sens. Cantwell and Murray helped to craft and pass the BIL and pushed to secure funding for clean water projects in the State of Washington. In April 2023, Sen. Cantwell announced that the State of Washington would receive more than $105 million from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, a program expanded under the BIL. In negotiating and passing the government funding bills for fiscal year 2024 as Appropriations Chair, Senator Murray successfully added funding to support rural water supply projects, protected funding for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, and secured millions for local water infrastructure projects across Washington state.

Sens. Cantwell and Murray have also led efforts in Congress to address water contamination due to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and have repeatedly introduced bipartisan legislation to hold federal agencies accountable for addressing PFAS contamination at military bases across the country.