It includes the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program, established in 1996 to help public water systems finance infrastructure projects needed to comply with federal drinking water regulations and to meet the SDWA’s health objectives.
Under this program, states receive annual capitalization grants to provide financial assistance (primarily subsidized loans) to public water systems for drinking water projects and other specified activities.
Between FY1997 and FY2015, Congress had appropriated approximately $20 billion, and more than 12,400 projects had received assistance through the program.
EPA reports that, although all of the projects identified in the survey would promote the public health objectives of the SDWA, just $42.0 billion (10.9%) of reported needs are attributable to SDWA compliance.
For FY2017, President Obama requested $20.0 million for EPA to begin providing loan guarantees for water infrastructure projects under WIFIA.
114-254, the Continuing and Security Assistance Appropriations Act of 2017.
For FY2016, the President requested $1.19 billion for the DWSRF program, and Congress provided $863.2 million.
In the 114th Congress, the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act (WIIN Act; P.L.
114-322) made several revisions to the DWSRF program and authorized $100 million in DWSRF appropriations to Michigan to assist the city of Flint in repairing its drinking water infrastructure.
114-254, Congress appropriated the funding authorized in the WIIN Act to assist Flint.

Wet spring leaves Kansas in a rare state: drought-free.
For only the fifth time since 2000, Kansas is entirely drought-free.
Last weekend’s blizzard, which brought more than two feet of snow to isolated areas of far western Kansas and double-digit accumulation to a narrow band that stretched north to south in the western third of the state, erased the final remnants of a drought that has been gradually receding during a remarkably wet spring.
Kansas was drought-free for three weeks last September, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, records show.
But by the end of the year, nearly 83 percent of the state was enduring at least some degree of drought or abnormal dryness.
“Usually, parts of especially western Kansas are inherently dry anyway,” Darmofal said.
Dry conditions and strong winds set the stage for the largest single wildfire in state history in southwest Kansas in March, but steady rains and last weekend’s record-setting snow erased the nearly 15 percent of severe drought that gripped much of southwest Kansas at the beginning of the year.
Kansas and Wichita have plenty of company in avoiding dry conditions.
Philip Klotzbach, a meteorologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, tweeted on Friday that only 5 percent of the U.S. is currently in drought — the lowest percentage since weekly drought monitoring data began in 2000.
Stan Finger: 316-268-6437, @StanFinger

The abundance of rain and snow could produce more wildfires and drownings, officials say.
Fires already have burned nearly 10 times as much territory statewide as they did during the same period of 2016.
“Just because the drought is over doesn’t mean the fire danger’s gone,” said Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean.
So far this year, Cal Fire says 431 fires have burned 7,245 acres, compared to 553 fires last year at this point that had burned 831 acres.
By this time last year, Cal Fire already had added 400 seasonal firefighters to remove dense brush, perform prescribed burns and conduct other preventive efforts.
The latest forecast from the National Interagency Fire Center predicts a slower start to fire season in Northern California, but “a robust fire season in July and August.” Firefighters in Sacramento are particularly concerned about the wide areas of new grass growing along the American River Parkway, which where arson and accidental fires regularly occur every year.
“The obstacles change because of the high water, and I would anticipate that there will be more dangers in the water this year.” DART team members plan to patrol the river every weekend this year starting on Memorial Day weekend to warn boaters, swimmers and others of the dangerous conditions and to urge everyone to use life jackets that are readily available for free at many area beaches and firehouses.
Use the Sacramento Drowning Accident Rescue Team’s tips to save yourself from drowning.
Video by Sharon Okada and Sam Stanton The Sacramento Bee This year may be particularly difficult, however, because the high, fast and cold water releases are expected to last much longer than in past years as flood-control officials deal with snowmelt from the mountains.
With the water running so fast, Sacramento County parks officials are warning people of the danger.

Move over, California: Florida has the USA’s worst drought.
Sixty-six percent of the state is now in a drought, the highest percentage of any U.S. state, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Parts of the state north of Lake Okeechobee are now enduring "extreme" drought, the second-worst level.
Only Florida and a portion of northern Georgia are seeing extreme drought.
Not surprisingly, the drought is due to an ongoing lack of rainfall.
"Drier than normal conditions have persisted for several months" in Florida, the National Weather Service said.
Many Florida cities have seen far less rain than usual this year.
The dryness has worsened wildfires across the state, with nearly 1,900 fires reported so far this year, the Florida Forest Service said.
Those fires have burned 153,315 acres, which is more than the state usually sees in an entire year, the Associated Press said.
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam recently described this year as the most active fire season since 2011.

Record low drought since monitoring began 17 years ago.
Thursday, May 4, 2017, 3:30 – Since drought monitoring began back in January of 2000, current values as of May 2, 2017 are the lowest in these 17 years and 5 months of recorded data.
One year ago, 33.89 percent of the contiguous US was experiencing some type of drought, with 14.56 percent in the moderate to exceptional drought category and 2.33 in an extreme drought alone.
Today extreme drought affects only 0.13 percent of the countries surface and there is no exceptional drought in sight.
The most remarkable changes in the drought monitor values are those recorded in the west.
There are no longer signs of extreme or exceptional drought conditions, and only 2.72 percent exhibits a moderate to severe drought situation.
A favorable weather pattern with a record breaking number of Atmospheric Rivers during the 2016-17 winter months also delivered plenty of moisture into the western third of the US helping erase a large swath of drought values across many areas.
An active jet stream has been driving storms across portions of the Central Plains and the Tennessee River Valley, areas which have been affected by moderate to extreme drought conditions throughout much of the Winter and Spring months.
Two weeks ago 44.63 percent of the southeast region was experiencing drought, today that value has been cut down to 34.35.
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Iowa free from drought.
Thanks to a wet and cool April, there are no drought designations in the state and shallow groundwater is now rated as normal to above normal across the state.
Streamflow is above normal across much of the state.
Most of April saw mild weather with temperatures above normal for most of the month.
However, unseasonably cool and wet weather prevailed for the last few days of the month and put a halt to spring planting and field work statewide.
The statewide average precipitation for April was 3.89 inches, or 0.38 inches above the 30-year normal.
This was the 13th consecutive April with above-average statewide precipitation.
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Bay Area allergy season after the drought: "It’ll be bad".
The Bay Area’s allergy season is nothing to sneeze at.
"A ton of rain produces a ton of pollen," he said.
Reid says local trees begin pollen production in early February and continue until late April, while grass pollen occurs around mid-April and disperses mid-June.
According to Reid, "there are two different ecosystems for allergies in the Bay Area: San Francisco and the rest."
Story continues below.
The plants that cause allergies, however, are pollinated by the wind.
Early in the season, wind-pollinated Monterey cyprus trees are most often to blame for runny noses in San Francisco, while oak trees often aggravate those in the East Bay.
These visual cues are more trustworthy than pollen counters whose numbers vary with the wind, Reid says.
In fact, Reid notes there is no pollen counter in San Francisco, so websites and widgets often get their data from neighboring cities, like San Jose and Pleasanton.

Iowa Politics Today: Drought-free Iowa, record breaking prescription drug disposal, new veterans home commandant.
NEW VETERANS HOME COMMANDANT: Gov.
Kim Reynolds on Thursday named retired Col. Timon Oujiri, a Cedar Rapids native, as the new commandant at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown.
He held other posts before becoming one of the first two selected for Congressional Fellowships for the U.S. Army Reserve.
Oujiri retired in December 2004 from active service.
He was asked to return to active duty in January 2005 to join the Army staff in Washington, D.C., where he served as the senior board member at the Army Review Boards Agency.
In that capacity, he sat on a number of determination boards for soldiers and veterans, including the Army Clemency & Parole Board.
Overall, in the event’s 13 years, Iowans have disposed of 44.8 tons of medicine.
To find other sites, go to https://odcp.iowa.gov/rxtakebacks.
Thanks to a wet and cool April, there are no drought designations in the state and shallow groundwater is now rated as normal to above normal across the state.

Tamil Nadu farmers fight drought with organic farming.
It has plunged the state into an agrarian crisis, with reports of distressed farmers committing suicide.
In the coastal town of Vedaranyam, facing the Bay of Bengal sea, however, some farmers have overcome the drought with simple but innovative practices.
Farmers in this important coastal agricultural region in Nagapattinam district have gone back to traditional crops and farming methods to fight the lack of irrigation water as well as soil salinity.
The salinity has increased as sea water has intruded over the years.
It has supplied drought-resistant, traditional crops that consume less water and helped farmers to build ponds to store rain water.
This year, farmers using chemical fertilisers lost their crops completely.
Traditional crops, which once ruled this agricultural landscape, faded with the onset of the green revolution – the boost in crop production after the application of hybrid seeds and chemical fertilisers in the 1970s.
Today, farmers are going back to traditional crops such as coconuts, vegetables and pulses, with rising consumer demand for such produce in India.
In Vedaranyam, where cases of farmers committing suicide have been reported, traditional organic farming offers a ray of hope in the fight against crop failure.

Tierra parda y estéril: la sequía histórica de Bolivia – en imágenes.
En noviembre y diciembre del 2016, y en enero del 2017, el fotógrafo Marcelo Pérez visitó los reservorios que abastecen de agua potable a La Paz, la capital, y la ciudad vecina El Alto, para documentar los niveles críticos que alcanzaron.
Las represas de Inkachaka, Ajunkota y Hampaturi abastecen de agua potable a más del 30% de la población de La Paz.
Visitar la represa fue surreal, dice Pérez: ‘Fue como estar en un planeta aislado.
Yo esperaba ver militares o personal de la compañía de agua, pero el lugar estaba totalmente vacío.
Parecía una zona de postguerra o una mina abandonada.’ En las zonas rurales, la sequía desencadenó conflictos entre mineros y agricultores sobre el uso de los acuíferos.
Esta vez, los manifestantes exigieron que el presidente Evo Morales retirara del cargo a Alexandra Moreira, ministra de medio ambiente y agua.
La sequía se vio además exacerbada por el rápido retroceso de los glaciares de Bolivia, de los cuales dependen La Paz y El Alto para recibir la mayor parte de su agua potable.
En el momento álgido de la sequía, las tres principales represas que suministran a las dos ciudades más grandes no estaban recibiendo escorrentía de los glaciares, lo que causó que se secaran casi por completo.
A principios de 2017, el gobierno boliviano utilizó una forma de modificación del clima llamada siembra de nubes con el fin de incrementar las lluvias y atenuar la sequía.