River Rally 2026

As Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funds sunset in FY2026, a critical question looms: what comes next? Base State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs were already overstretched before this historic $43 billion investment, and the nation’s water infrastructure financing gap continues to grow. Without coordinated action, we risk reverting to business as usual.
From 2022–2025, PolicyLink partnered with EPIC, River Network, and 16 CBOs across the South to analyze state SRF programs and drive sustained state and federal advocacy. In this interactive 90-minute panel, water justice leaders from Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Texas will share lessons from the ground - including barriers faced, concrete wins achieved, and how SRF campaigns became catalysts for broader efforts to increase long-term water investment.
Through storytelling, discussion, and Q&A, participants will explore how to move funding from authorization to implementation, prevent backsliding as BIL dollars expire, and organize across states to close the water infrastructure gap.

Target Audience
Water professionals, federal/state water policy advocates, water justice leaders/CBOs interested in financing water infrastructure.
Funders that recognize that water will remain undervalued unless we adequately and sustainably fund a water justice movement that centers those with lived experience.