July 21, 2022

A Step Forward for Water Infrastructure

Last month, Governor Murphy signed the FY23 state budget and allocated $300 million in critical water infrastructure upgrades. While this investment is a step forward for water infrastructure, there is still work to be done to bridge the funding gap. “An additional $700 million from New Jersey’s remaining share of American Rescue Plan dollars, combined with the $300 million investment outlined in the state budget, and existing funding from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will cover the 25% of the 10-year cost of lead service line removal, significantly jumpstart work to eliminate harmful “forever chemicals” from our drinking water, provide over a quarter of the funding needed to fix combined sewer systems and a down payment of $80 million to improve stormwater management and reduce flooding,” according to the Clean Water, Healthy Families, Good Jobs campaign statement on the budget.

Sewage-Free Streets and Rivers Partners Gather at the Jersey Water Works Annual Membership Meeting

On Wednesday, July 13, Sewage-Free Streets and Rivers partners gathered at the Jersey Water Works Annual Membership Meeting held at Kean University. This year’s theme was “Critical Connections for Critical Conversations: Transforming New Jersey’s Water Infrastructure Together.” The group discussed the impacts of the climate disaster on communities with combined sewer systems and provided feedback on the Jersey Water Works Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) committee report, “Planning for Our Future: Effects of Climate Change on CSOs.” The group discussed making the connection between environmental justice communities and the climate disaster, and recommended including an environmental justice section in the report.

Update on the SFSR Community Leaders Fellowship Program

The final session of our Community Leaders Fellowship Program took place in June! The program was designed for emerging community leaders from communities with combined sewer systems who wanted to increase their understanding of water policy, advocacy, equity, organizing, and communications while expanding their networks.  A huge thank you to all our guest speakers and community leader fellows for making this program possible. SFSR honors our Fellows’ commitment to reducing combined sewer overflows. We look forward to growing with you as you continue your lifelong journey as a community leader.

CSO Permit Update

At the Jersey Water Works Membership Meeting, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner, Shawn LaTourette, confirmed the combined sewer overflow (CSO) permit schedule. According to the commissioner, the CSO permits for the eight regional Long Term Control Plans, will be released late this summer or early fall. When asked what advocates can do if the permits are not released this fall, he said, “call me.”

Take This Survey to Help Identify Barriers to Securing CSO Funding

The JWW CSO Committee has prepared a survey for permit holders that will serve as the first step in identifying existing barriers and recommendations to address them. This will allow CSO communities and their citizens to realize the benefits of the new federal water infrastructure funding that has been allocated to New Jersey. We invite you to complete it here, or by scanning the QR code.

CREWS in the News

This month, we are featuring American Rivers and their annual America’s Most Endangered Rivers® report. The report is the most influential national campaign to galvanize public action and secure victories for rivers, clean water, and communities. American Rivers is accepting nominations for their 2023 report from interested groups throughout the United States. The deadline is Friday, September 30, 2022. Download the nomination form here. As part of an initiative that funds 24 grantees, the Climate Resilient and Equitable Water Systems (CREWS) initiative is a program working to transform stormwater and wastewater systems with climate-resilient water management practices emphasizing equity.

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About This Campaign

Sewage-Free Streets and Rivers (SFSR) is an action-oriented campaign that empowers community organizations to engage residents and small business owners to shape their communities’ solutions to reduce localized flooding and the raw sewage dumped into rivers and streams due to combined sewer overflows (CSOs). SFSR is organized by its partners and an advisory board, with the support of New Jersey Future.

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