The House-Passed Funding Would Allow Occoquan to Repair Damage & Make Major Upgrades to Stormwater Management System

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. House of Representatives today voted to pass U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger’s legislation that would provide $920,000 to make much-needed improvements to the Town of Occoquan’s aging stormwater management system.

This investment — which Spanberger secured as part of a House-passed fiscal year (FY)2024 appropriations package — would allow the Town of Occoquan to upgrade its antiquated stormwater management facilities to prevent persistent flooding in the town and subsequent runoff into the Occoquan River. The funding would enable Occoquan to address the deterioration of its current system by completing a CCTV (closed-circuit television) sewer inspection, cleaning out the system, performing joint repairs, and lining the stormwater pipes.

“Investing in strong, lasting infrastructure not only makes our communities stronger, but is a good investment in the health and safety of Virginians. I’ve heard directly from community leaders in Occoquan about the need for serious upgrades to the town’s aging stormwater management system to improve resilience to heavy rain, prevent runoff into the Occoquan River, and prevent the potential contamination of the Occoquan Reservoir’s drinking water supply,” said Spanberger. “These are improvements that are necessary to the region’s economic growth long into the future — and I want to thank the Town of Occoquan for working with me to advance this request and secure more than $900,000 in the House-passed appropriations bill to make these tangible, much-needed upgrades possible.”

“This is very significant for the town of Occoquan. We have legacy stormwater systems that in some cases stretch as far back as a Civil Works Administration (CWA) project from the 1930s. For more than fifty years — since the early 1970s at least — these systems have been subjected to great stress, primarily from stormwater originating outside of town, which has in turn contributed to recurring inland flooding of the downtown area. While steps have been taken to address some of those point sources, repairing the cumulative damage to the town’s main stormwater arteries has long been far beyond the town’s means,” said Mayor Earnie Porta, JD, PhD, Town of Occoquan. “Thanks to the efforts of Congresswoman Spanberger, Occoquan will now not only be able to address that multi-generational infrastructure damage and minimize the risk of continued flooding but will also be capable of maintaining the system into the future. We simply could not have addressed this without her interest, support, and advocacy on our behalf.”

Spanberger worked directly with the Town of Occoquan to make sure the projects were included in this federal funding legislation. The FY2024 appropriations package now goes to the U.S. Senate for further consideration.

BACKGROUND

For FY2024, the U.S. House of Representatives allowed for specific Community Project Funding requests — as it did in FY2023. Spanberger worked directly with community leaders in localities across Virginia’s Seventh District to gather community-focused requests for her submissions. Click here for the 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 needed to demonstrate significant local support for the projects.

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