By Matt Bittle

DOVER — With no opposition, the House on Thursday approved a bill that would invest millions of dollars to rebuild Delaware’s drinking-water infrastructure, prevent flooding in vulnerable communities and keep contamination out of waterways.

House Bill 200 would establish a trust funded by the annual capital bond bill to address water issues. The proposed capital budget for the fiscal year starting July 1 includes $50 million for water projects: $22.5 million for safe drinking water, $22.5 million for water-pollution control and $5 million for resource conservation and development.

The Clean Water Trust Fund Oversight Committee that would be established under the bill would be tasked with developing an annual strategic plan and a report detailing use of funds for water-related projects, like stormwater, drainage, breach preservation and tax ditches.

There would be a specific focus on funding for low-income and underserved communities.

“For too long, Delaware has ignored the growing problems that have threatened a resource we simply cannot live without: water. The time to protect our waterways, support our stormwater systems and ensure clean, healthy drinking water to our residents is now,” House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, a Bear Democrat and the bill’s main sponsor, said in a statement.

“This is an environmental justice issue. Clean water, safe waterways, solid infrastructure and adequate wastewater treatment should not be a luxury, and today we have taken a bold step forward, passing a bill that will have a lasting impact on our state.”

Delaware’s watersheds support more than 70,000 jobs and contribute almost $7 billion to the state’s economy. However, poor water quality, stormwater-management issues and a backlog of fragmented infrastructure projects threaten the quality of life here.

A deep dive into these issues illustrates the need for a significant investment. Delaware’s list of impaired waters includes 377 bodies of water that suffer from excess nutrients, low dissolved oxygen, toxins and bacteria that negatively impact human and aquatic life. More than 100 miles of these waters have fish-consumption advisories.

The bill prioritizes clean-water projects that utilize green infrastructure and enhancement of natural systems to provide ecological benefits that improve water quality, demonstrate a high ratio of nutrient or pollution reduction to the amount of funding and improve community resilience to extreme weather, sea-level rise and other climate impacts.

“Delaware has been waiting far too long for us to take this critical first-step in addressing the serious water quality and flooding issue quickly reaching crisis levels across our state,” Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, a Newark Democrat who is the bill’s prime Senate sponsor, said in a statement. “With nearly every waterway in the First State now considered impaired or polluted, consistent flooding and aging sewer systems in our communities and far too many of our neighbors lacking access to clean drinking water, this bill represents an important initial investment in our economy and the health of all Delawareans.”

This is not the first attempt to establish a funding source for water projects in recent years, though previous versions failed to advance through the legislature.

The Delaware Nature Society touted the bill’s passage, as did Gov. John Carney. The measure now heads to the Senate.