Durbin Meets With Metropolitan Water Reclamation District
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today met with Kari K. Steele, President of Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) to discuss the design and construction of Thornton Reservoir, which was built to reduce chronic flooding in the Great Lakes region. In Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), Durbin secured a $20 million earmark for MWRD to address excessive flooding in historically underserved communities in the Chicagoland area, including Harvey, South Holland, and Blue Island.
During the meeting, Durbin and MWRD leadership also spoke about the Trump Administration’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26), which proposes drastic cuts of 55 percent to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s funding and 23 percent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ funding.
“The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District is assigned the critical task of keeping our water supply safe while also keeping our water infrastructure in working order. Yet, the Trump Administration continues to threaten MWRD’s essential work by indiscriminately cutting federal funding to Illinois’ water infrastructure projects,” said Durbin. “As I told MWRD leadership in our meeting today, I will continue to push back against these disastrous budget cuts and advocate for the critical funding our state needs.”
Photos of the meeting are available here.
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