Donald Trump establishes subcabinet on water-related issues

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to modernise the country’s water resource management and water infrastructure.

The executive order, titled Modernizing America’s Water Resource Management and Water Infrastructure, includes the establishment of a water subcabinet of senior Federal agency officials.

The water subcabinet will be co-chaired by US Department of the Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and US Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler.

It will include senior officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Commerce (DOC), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Department of the Army (Civil Works).

The subcabinet’s role includes the development of a national water strategy and endorsement of effective and efficient water resources management.

It will also be responsible to protect taxpayer investments and enhance water infrastructure planning apart from supporting and improving workforce development.

Wheeler said: “The Federal Government has the responsibility to ensure all Americans, regardless of their zip code, have access to reliable sources of clean and safe water.

“By creating the Water Subcabinet, President Trump is supporting 21st century water infrastructure that will provide all Americans with safe drinking water and surface water protection.”

The DOE has advanced transformational technology and innovation via the President’s Water Security Grand Challenge in order to help meet the domestic and global need for safe, secure and affordable water through partnership between industry and 17 national labs in the US.

Earlier this month, the EPA announced the next step in its effort to help address workforce challenges faced by the US drinking water and wastewater utilities.

The new America’s Water Sector Workforce Initiative outlines actions that the public and private sector are committing to help recruit and retain the next generation of water workforce. It focuses on workforce planning, technology training, and collaboration across the federal government and the water sector.