The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is directing more than $227 million to American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages to upgrade drinking water and wastewater systems, the agency announced this week. The funding is intended to help Tribal communities protect public health and the environment by modernizing aging water infrastructure.
“Working closely with our Tribal partners is a cornerstone of our Indian Policy, commitment to cooperative federalism and work to protect human health,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Jess Kramer. “These resources are essential to helping Tribes manage and upgrade water infrastructure and ensure clean, safe drinking water and wastewater services.”
The money will give federally recognized Tribes the resources to invest in infrastructure projects that support compliance with the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. Officials said priorities include removing lead pipes and addressing per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), a class of long-lasting chemicals that have drawn increasing scrutiny for their presence in drinking water supplies nationwide.
The fiscal year 2026 funding will flow through four existing programs:
- $71 million through the Clean Water Indian Set-Aside (CWISA) program, which includes $4.5 million earmarked for emerging contaminants under CWISA-EC
- $134 million through Drinking Water Infrastructure Grants
- $19 million through the Emerging Contaminants in Small or Disadvantaged Communities (EC-SDC) Tribal Grant Program
- $3 million through the Small, Rural, and Tribal (SmaRT) Drinking Water Assistance Grant Program, previously known as the Small, Underserved, and Disadvantaged Communities (SUDC) Tribal Grant Program
The Clean Water Indian Set-Aside program dates back to 1987, when it was created through amendments to the Clean Water Act to fund wastewater infrastructure for American Indian Tribes and Alaska Native Villages. The program covers the planning, design, and construction of wastewater treatment facilities serving federally recognized Tribes.
The Drinking Water Infrastructure Grants Tribal Set-Aside has a similar history, established in 1996 through amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. That law authorized the EPA to set aside a portion of Drinking Water State Revolving Fund appropriations specifically for Tribal drinking water infrastructure. Since then, the program has funded infrastructure upgrades, capital improvement projects, and operator training and certification.
The announcement comes after the EPA had already allotted corresponding funding for states and territories under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and Clean Water State Revolving Fund programs.
More information on the EPA’s Tribal water programs, including the drinking water funding structure and the Clean Water Indian Set-Aside program, is available on the agency’s website.
