Wyden Proposes Additional Legislation to Support Tribal Water Infrastructure

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, Senator Michael Bennet, D-Colo., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, and John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., alongside U.S. Representative Joe Neguse, D-Colo. yesterday (July 19, 2023) reintroduced legislation that would dramatically expand Tribal access to clean water by investing in water infrastructure.

Wyden was in Warm Springs This past May to mark the start of the plans for a new water treatment plant.   “There is a shameful legacy right here in this spot of Oregon.  The burst pipes, the boil water notices, Year after year of failing water treatment for the Tribes and families and all concerned.   And members of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs have just waited far too long for something that ought to be a basic human right – the right to secure clean water.”

Wyden, who successfully fought for $250 million in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve water quality and services for tribal communities says the funds from the “Western Tribal Water Infrastructure Act were a crucial starting point, but more needs to be done to ensure that the people who have inhabited this land since time immemorial no longer have to contend with boil water notices and crumbling pipes, and can build sustainable tribal water infrastructure for present and future generations.”

Funding already received by the Confederated Warm Springs is in use right now as replacement of a significant water main serving the Agency Water System is underway.  That is the work that has been done along Shitike Creek road that is now visible along Hollywood Blvd and at Quinn Park.