U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is calling for continued federal funding for the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) in the upcoming government funding bill.
The federal program assists households whose drinking water and/or wastewater services have been disconnected, or are about to be disconnected, because of inability to pay.
Since the program’s creation in 2021, it has helped over 1 million households nationwide, including over 35,000 in New York, afford their water and wastewater bills. However, the program’s funding expired in 2023.
Gillibrand said in a press conference, “The average household spends more than $1,000 a year on water bills. That’s just another expense families already struggling with the high cost of groceries, gas, child care, and energy bills can’t afford. For these families, the Low Income Household Water Assistance Program provides a lifeline. It might be the only thing preventing their water from being cut off and protecting them from the devastating consequences of living with no running water.”
Congress established and provided $1.1 billion for LIHWAP through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
Nationwide, at least 13,000 water and wastewater systems in low-income, tribal, rural, and urban communities have participated in the program to date.
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