This act mandates a GAO review of federal disaster funding for water infrastructure failures and requires recommendations for proactive investment in at-risk systems.
Nellie Pou
Representative
NJ-9
The Water Crisis Prevention Act of 2025 mandates a comprehensive review by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of federal disaster funding available for water infrastructure failures. This review must assess FEMA resources for states, businesses, and individuals, both during and outside of declared emergencies. Ultimately, the GAO will report back to Congress with recommendations for interagency cooperation and future funding to proactively repair high-risk water systems.
GAO Gets Six Months to Audit Federal Disaster Money for Water Main Breaks and Infrastructure Failure
The newly proposed Water Crisis Prevention Act of 2025 is short, sweet, and focused on getting the federal government to finally look at what happens when your local water system goes sideways. It doesn’t create a new program or spend a dime yet, but it mandates a critical, six-month review by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) into how we handle water infrastructure disasters.
The Water Main Break Fine Print
This bill’s core action is forcing the GAO to audit how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) currently handles disaster funding when water systems fail. Think about those massive water main breaks that shut down cities or the slow, creeping contamination issues that plague older systems. The GAO is tasked with figuring out what funding is available for states, towns, individuals, and small businesses in these scenarios. Crucially, the review must cover situations where a formal emergency has been declared and those where it hasn't. This is key because many localized, expensive failures—like a city-wide boil water notice lasting weeks—don't always trigger a full federal disaster declaration, leaving local budgets stranded.
Mapping the Next Crisis
Once the review is done, the GAO has to report back to Congress with two specific sets of suggestions. First, they need to recommend which federal agencies (think EPA, Army Corps, FEMA) should be working with states to pinpoint the water systems most likely to fail next. This is about being proactive, not reactive. For example, if you’re a small business owner relying on water, knowing your town’s system is flagged as high-risk could change your planning, or, better yet, spur local action before a crisis hits.
Second, the report must suggest how Congress can start allocating money specifically to fix that high-risk infrastructure before it breaks. This is the difference between paying billions for emergency repairs (and the resulting economic damage) versus paying millions for preventative maintenance. The goal here is to create a data-driven roadmap for future infrastructure spending, moving away from a purely reactive disaster response model to one focused on resilience. This bill is essentially asking the smartest kids in the room (the GAO) to read the fine print on our water systems and tell Congress how to stop the next crisis before the pipes burst.