Yesterday the Biden-Harris administration announced the release of the White House Action Plan on Global Water Security and Drought Resilience Interagency Working Group 1-Year Summary Report, which discuss efforts to address water crises in the U.S. and abroad.

The first document highlights the direct links between access to water and wastewater services and U.S. national security, observing water insecurity threatens lives and livelihoods and can lead to unrest.  While much of the document speaks of this as a global challenge, providing cases in developing parts of the world as examples, it also notes water crises in the U.S. are becoming more frequent and intense. These crises are brought on by historic droughts and extreme weather events, with the compounding factor of climate change. To address these and other challenges, the Action Plan lays out a whole-of-government approach that focuses on four pillars, which include funding in local infrastructure projects intended to improve community resilience (such as through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law). The Action Plan also discusses Drought Resilience Interagency Working Group, which was formed just over a year ago and released its 1-Year Summary Report just yesterday. That document describes actions recently taken and underway by the federal government to address worsening drought conditions in the U.S., categorized by department/agency. It also notes funds are being made available to help improve the resilience of infrastructure through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and discusses an EPA project in California to help water and wastewater utilities identify possible drought mitigation strategies. Read more at the White House (fact sheet and statement by Vice President Harris).