Beyer leads regional delegation demanding federal funding for Potomac Interceptor repairs, and a backup water supply for the region
The Alexandria congressman leads 13 colleagues from Maryland and DC in calling for urgent action. The request for a backup water supply study reveals a vulnerability the spill exposed.
One day after regional officials gathered for the first comprehensive public briefing on the Potomac Interceptor sewer collapse, Congressman Don Beyer — who represents Alexandria and Arlington — led 13 colleagues from Maryland and DC in sending a letter to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure demanding federal funding to repair the pipeline and prevent similar crises elsewhere.
Beyer led the letter alongside Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton of DC. All 14 signatories are Democrats. The letter is addressed to Republican committee Chair Sam Graves and Ranking Member Rick Larsen.
"Congress must play a role in solving this crisis, investing in our nation's wastewater infrastructure, and preventing this and similar crises from recurring," the members wrote.
What they're asking for
The letter makes three specific requests:
Reauthorize and increase the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The CWSRF is the primary federal mechanism for helping states and localities fund wastewater infrastructure repairs. The members ask that it be reauthorized at or above the levels set in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
Authorize specific federal funding to rehabilitate the Potomac Interceptor. The letter asks the committee to include Potomac Interceptor rehabilitation in the next Water Resources Development Act, which governs Army Corps of Engineers priorities. Requested work includes structural repairs, pipe lining, ventilation improvements, access structure replacement, odor and corrosion control, and modernization of monitoring systems.
Direct the Army Corps to prioritize a backup water supply study for the Washington region. This is the most significant long-term ask. The letter notes that unlike other major metropolitan areas, the Washington region has no secondary water supply. A backup supply study was authorized in the 2022 Water Resources Development Act and updated in 2024, but has not been executed. The members ask that it be prioritized — and that the study not be narrowed "to focus only on near-term or small-scale measures."
Why the backup water supply ask matters
The Potomac River is the drinking water source for approximately 85 percent of the Washington region. The Potomac Interceptor collapse did not threaten drinking water because all active intake points are upstream of the spill site — a fact confirmed at Monday's briefing and reported here yesterday.
But the crisis exposed a related vulnerability: the region has no secondary water supply if the Potomac itself were ever compromised. The congressional letter calls that out directly, framing it as critical redundancy the region cannot afford to delay studying.
At Monday's briefing, ICPRB scientist Dr. Cherie Schultz noted that the Washington Aqueduct's Little Falls intake — a backup intake located downstream of the spill site — was not in use during the crisis. She flagged it as a concern for drought conditions, when the primary Great Falls intake may not be sufficient and the region would need to switch to Little Falls. The congressional letter's push to study a true secondary supply goes further.
Background
On January 19, a 72-inch section of the Potomac Interceptor collapsed near the Clara Barton Parkway and I-495 interchange in Montgomery County, releasing approximately 243.5 million gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River over several weeks. The pipeline, built in the early 1960s, had no redundancy or backup system. The section that failed was already identified in DC Water's capital improvement program for a $30 million rehabilitation project scheduled to begin this spring — work that had not yet started.
DC Water's $625 million, ten-year rehabilitation plan for the full Potomac Interceptor was underway before the collapse. The congressional letter calls for federal funding to supplement that work, citing EPA data showing wastewater infrastructure nationwide will require more than $630 billion in repairs over the next two decades — "far outpacing local and state capacity."
Pipe repairs remain on track for mid-March. A recreational water advisory covering Alexandria's waterfront remains in effect with no end date. Yesterday, The Alexandria Brief reported on Virginia DEQ bacteria sampling data showing elevated readings across the northern Virginia shoreline, including a Fourmile Run measurement at the George Washington Parkway Bridge that exceeded the federal recreational threshold on February 17.
What happens next
The letter now sits with the Republican-led House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Whether Chair Graves responds or moves any of the requested items is the next question. The members also asked the Appropriations Committee to fully fund the CWSRF and authorized Potomac Interceptor repairs in FY2027 spending bills.
Two public community meetings on the spill are scheduled this week: tonight, February 25 at 7 p.m. at DC Water headquarters and Thursday, February 26 at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda. Both will be live-streamed. No Virginia public meeting has been scheduled.
The full text of the congressional letter is available here. Yesterday's Alexandria Brief report on Monday's regional briefing and Virginia DEQ sampling data is here.
