A new report from Bluefield Research shows an increase in loan applications to SRF programs of 25 percent since last year.
The report found that SRFs make up an average of 17% of total public spending on water and wastewater infrastructure annually. In FY 2017 / 2018, SRF will distribute over $14.4 billion to drinking water and clean water projects across all 50 states.
An analysis of the report by Water Finance & Management magazine found that “for the most recent cycle, 2017/2018 fiscal year, $26.9 billion has been requested for drinking water and another $55.3 billion for clean water (wastewater).” The current program is already oversubscribed, with only 17 percent of the total requests receiving funding- loans or grants. Further, only a small percentage of municipalities leverage the program. Of the approximate 49,000 drinking water and 18,000 wastewater systems in the United States, Bluefield has mapped 3,911 drinking water and 3,730 wastewater systems that have requested funding this fiscal year.
“Outside of revenue generated from customer billing, the SRF program represents a bedrock source of funding for municipal utilities, reaching almost 20 percent of their capital expenditure needs,” according to Erin Bonney Casey, research director for Bluefield. “Although, the $67 billion difference between requested and awarded funding signals the looming financial challenge for system owners.”
Of awarded funds, treatment system projects received the lion’s share — 36 percent of drinking water projects and 53 percent of clean water projects. Other types of projects include transmission and distribution networks, sewer collectors and interceptors, water or stormwater storage, water reuse and stormwater overflow corrections.
