Michigan's Water Infrastructure Is Getting A $500M Investment

MICHIGAN — State officials have announced a $500 million water infrastructure investment in Michigan's water systems from source to tap.

The MI Clean Water Plan makes a significant investment after decades of underinvestment in Michigan's infrastructure, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said. Whitmer said making sure Michigan residents have access to affordable and clean water was a priority for her administration since taking office.

"The MI Clean Water Plan marks a significant step toward that goal,” she said. “The MI Clean Water investment will help us rebuild Michigan’s water infrastructure and will prioritize and invest directly into protecting our public health, environment, and economy. The MI Clean Water Plan is a critical part of the solution, but the work cannot stop here. I look forward to working with the legislature to find creative solutions to address our water infrastructure backlog. Everyone must remain committed to ensuring that every Michigander has access to clean water."

The MI Clean Water investment is a unified approach to cleaner, more affordable water, officials said. The plan provides direct investments for communities, helps provide safe, clean water to residents and will support over 7,500 Michigan jobs, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Access to clean drinking water is a cornerstone of our work at EGLE, and this exciting package of water protections pulls together a wealth of resources to help ensure clean water for all Michiganders,” EGLE Director Liesl Clark said. “Now is the perfect time to invest state and federal dollars in a coordinated way to encourage job growth in water infrastructure jobs. This work will ripple throughout both the economy and the systems that protect public health, strengthening both.”

Officials said MI Clean Water confronts the large infrastructure issues that Michigan faces, such as lead-laden water service lines, toxic contamination like PFAS, undersized sewers, failing septic systems, unaffordable water rates, and constrained local budgets. MI Clean Water will reduce barriers for communities and allow them to access needed funds for necessary and timely infrastructure upgrades.

This investment — described by Whitmer as historic — includes a proposal combining federal dollars for lead service line replacement in low-income communities ($102.1 million) with bonding authority for water quality protection ($290 million), one-time General Fund appropriation for drinking water infrastructure and innovation ($105 million), and asset management grants ($2.9 million) to help communities develop, update, and improve their plans for wastewater and stormwater systems resulting in a comprehensive water infrastructure investment of $500 million in Michigan’s water systems.

The MI Clean Water investment will be done without raising the taxes of Michiganders, officials said. The plan includes:

A $207.1 million investment in drinking water quality, including:

• Lead Service Line Replacement in Disadvantaged Communities Program - $102 million
• Lead and Copper – Drinking Water Asset Management Grants - $37.5 million
• PFAS and Emerging Contaminants - Contamination and Consolidation Grants - $25 million
• Non-Lead Drinking Water Infrastructure Grants - $35 million
• Affordability and Planning Grants - $7.5 million

A $293 million investment in wastewater protection, including:

• Clean Water Infrastructure Grants (eliminating sanitary sewer overflows; correcting combined sewer overflows; increasing green infrastructure) - $235 million
• Substantial Public Health Risk Grants (removing direct and continuous discharges of raw sewage from surface or ground water) - $20 million
• Failing Septic System Elimination Program - $35 million
• Stormwater, Asset Management, and Wastewater Grants - $3 million

“It’s time for the legislature to take bold actions to invest in Michigan’s infrastructure and protect our water from toxic contamination," Whitmer said. "I'm calling on the legislature to authorize EGLE to use the remainder of the voter-approved 2002 Great Lakes Water Quality bond during this legislative session. Michiganders are tired of waiting for action, the time is now. We must all work together to improve the quality of the waters of our State.”

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said he supports Whitmer's plan and said he appreciates the aggressive nature of the plan.

"In Detroit, where we have the oldest infrastructure in the state, it would give us the ability to greatly expand our water main replacement program and replace an additional 2,000 lead service lines beyond our current program," Duggan said. "As we do with all of our capital projects, we will hire Detroiters to do this work. We also plan to dedicate a portion of these funds to expand our affordability programs to help our most impoverished residents, who cannot take advantage of our other assistance programs."

Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores, said Michigan's infrastructure has been systematically disinvested for years, adding that his constituents have been among those experiencing the results.

“Sewage overflows in Southeast Michigan impacting Lake St. Clair, PFAS and dioxane found in multiple drinking water sources, and, of course, the lasting impact of the Flint Water Crisis are just some of the impacts we’re already facing, and we need to act now to prevent further harm,” he said. “This plan will allow us to address these issues while creating thousands of good-paying jobs. I am excited to put Michiganders to work to clean up our state.”