Vermont officials report $185 million year and $600 million‑plus since 2016 invested in clean water; data gaps, ARPA drop‑off and capacity needs noted

Julie Moore, secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources, told the Natural Resources & Energy committee that Vermont’s 2024 Clean Water Initiative performance report shows a major increase in clean‑water investments in recent years and highlights the need to align funding, capacity and planning to meet long‑term total maximum daily load (TMDL) goals. “Every dollar we invest in clean water, we know represents a choice about our priorities,” Moore said while introducing the report.

Emily Byrd, Clean Water Initiative program manager in the Department of Environmental Conservation, and Claire Madden, the program’s tracking and accounting supervisor, presented the report’s findings. Byrd described the program’s mission to “align and coordinate clean water efforts statewide” and said the performance report aggregates data from roughly 50 funding programs administered across state and federal partners. Madden summarized the report’s four tracked categories — investments, education, outputs and modeled pollution reductions — and showed the state’s overall investment trajectory since 2016.

Key fig…