Sen. Sinema led infrastructure bill could help strengthen Tucson’s water future

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TUCSON (KVOA) – $ 10 billion in water treatment funds is included in the $ 1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill passed by Senator Kyrsten Sinema while it awaits passage in the House of Representatives. This funding could go a long way towards protecting the water in southern Arizona over the long term.

Families in Tucson have been dealing with polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, which contaminate water for decades.

Just this summer, Tucson Water closed a water treatment center for preventative maintenance. However, this federal funding could help maintain and expand Tucson’s water supplies over the long term.

PFAS are man-made chemicals found in packaged foods, household products, and drinking water, among other things.

These chemicals are generally a problem for the water in places like Tucson, where airports and air bases have training courses leading to these chemicals being released into the water supply.

In the Infrastructure Act headed by Sinema, the funds made available for PFAS and other water treatment issues are sufficient, according to estimates by federal experts, to solve water problems nationwide.

“Next, we need to look into smart regional planning to ensure that we distribute the money fairly and in a timely manner and that we focus on the areas of greatest need first,” said Sinema.

Back in June, Tucson Water closed a treatment center near the airport to prevent PFAS contamination from becoming a problem at the facility. The facility serves 60,000 Tucson residents when they are active.

Funding from the Infrastructure Act would help with such projects.

“We are currently rapidly building a pipeline to the Santa Cruz River so we can get the water treatment plant back on line and remove as much PFAS as possible before we release it into the environment,” said John Kmeic, interim director for Tucson Water.

This plant is to be put back into operation in October.

The bill would be distributed based on a community’s PFAS contamination level.

“As people know, I was born in Tucson,” Sinema said. “I’ve lived through all of these water quality challenges and concerns, just as people are experiencing all over southern Arizona community right now.”

This funding could help to make contaminated wells usable again, to build more infrastructure and to cope with existing problems more effectively.

“There are several areas of the aquifer that we are dealing with with PFAS,” said Kmeic. “North of Davis-Monthan is a site that is currently being examined by the Department of Defense. We (also) have the Tucson International Airport site.”

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on the $ 1 trillion Infrastructure Bill on Sept. 27 and is currently expected to pass.

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