President Signs into Law Spanberger Legislation to Provide More Than $1.8 Million for Water Treatment Plant Expansion in Spotsylvania County

This Funding will Help Cover Construction Costs for the Installation & Upgrade of Facilities at the Motts Run Water Treatment Plant

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Joe Biden today signed into law U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger’s legislation to provide $1,840,000 to expand the Motts Run Water Treatment Plant in Spotsylvania.

The major funding for Spotsylvania County — which Spanberger successfully secured as part of a House and Senate-passed fiscal year (FY) 2022 appropriations package — will be used to improve water service stability and reliability for the region. Specifically, the funding will be used for costs associated with the project’s National Environmental Policy Act Review, preliminary and detailed design engineering work, and partial constructions costs — including the installation and upgrade of treatment facilities to meet current and future drinking water demands.

“Safe drinking water is a continued responsibility at the federal, state, and local levels. That’s why I have been proud to work directly with leaders in Spotsylvania County to secure funding for the expansion of the Motts Run Water Treatment Plant,” said Spanberger. “Now, more Spotsylvania residents will enjoy the benefits of clean drinking water from the Rappahannock River and the Motts Run Reservoir. With the President now signing this funding into law, I would like to thank Spotsylvania County officials for their commitment to a reliable water supply — and I am excited to see this support head straight to Spotsylvania.”

“The Motts Run water treatment plant expansion project is essential in addressing the immediate needs of our community, but also ensures demands are met for the next 30 years,” said Tim McLaughlin, Chairman, Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors. “Approval of this community project funding initiative which covers $1.8 million of the $2 million cost of the preliminary engineering phase of the total $94 million project, comes as we struggle to balance affordable water and sewer rates for our residents while paying for multiple, large and costly infrastructure projects. We would like to extend our gratitude to Representative Spanberger and her staff for their efforts on behalf of the Spotsylvania community in helping to secure this funding, a critical first step in helping to move this project forward while easing the burden on our customers by lowering local costs.”

BACKGROUND

This year, the U.S. House of Representatives implemented a new effort as part of its annual appropriations process, which allowed for specific Community Project Funding requests — like the expansion of the Motts Run Treatment Plant. Spanberger worked directly with community leaders in all 10 counties of the Seventh District to gather community-focused requests for her submissions. Click here for a full list of her submissions.

The Community Project Funding process was created to ensure that Members of Congress, in concert with the communities they represent, may submit direct applications for federal funding to support locally planned projects as part of the yearly appropriations process.

To be eligible, projects must be sponsored by local or state government entities or non-profit organizations and must be projects that would otherwise meet the qualifications to apply for federal grant funding. The purpose of Community Project Funding is to ensure direct, local engagement as part of the federal appropriations process. In line with this goal, funding applications must demonstrate significant local support for the projects. 

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