Drinking Water in Louisiana Part II: Can Louisiana Afford Safe Drinking Water? Funding Barriers, Community Impact, and Financing Strategies

October 2, 2026

By Leela Prodhan*

Without timely and sustained maintenance and investment, the deterioration of drinking water systems is likely to worsen, further exacerbating public health risks and reducing access to safe, clean drinking water for many rural Louisiana communities. Solving this crisis will require significant financial investment. According to a 2026 report by the American Society of Civil Engineers, $9 billion would be needed to fix state-wide drinking water infrastructure over the next 20 years, and over $7 billon of that for smaller, rural systems. These numbers will only continue to rise as systems age, maintenance is delayed, and funding remains scarce. 

Community Impact

Rural drinking water challenges have caused significant and ongoing hardships in small towns across Louisiana, including Monterey, Killian, and St. Joseph, where water quality issues affect daily life and residents’ health.

Monterey

Monterey is in Concordia Parish, in central Louisiana, along the eastern border of the state, on the Mississippi River. Monterey is home to 474 residents. Just last year, Monterey’s water system dropped from an A to a C and has been flagged for numerous violations and boil water advisories. The drop in grade was due to high levels of manganese, which turns the water brown and murky when it reacts with chlorine (chlorine helps disinfect the water and is required by the LDH), multiple violation reports, and numerous boil water advisories. While the letter grade for the city’s water systems only dropped this year, the city has had trouble with clean drinking water systems for years. One resident claimed she hasn’t used the drinking water in her house for the past five years and gives her pets bottled water. Many citizens have also experienced ruined clothes, broken appliances, and dead plants due to poor-quality water from local drinking water systems.

Killian

Killian is in Livingston Parish, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and is home to 1,177 residents. In 2023, Killian received a D for its drinking water system. Earlier this year, Killian was under a boil water advisory for almost a month due to brown, silty water and bacterial contamination. A state of emergency was declared, and while inspectors examined Killian’s system and the city’s only water well during this advisory period, almost 1,000 residents had to rely on trucked-in water as their only source. As of December 29, 2025, Magnolia Water Utility Operating Company, a company that specializes in improving drinking water systems, bought Killian’s water system.[1] The company’s intervention gave Killian’s residents faith that their drinking water would improve, but things are off to a rocky start in the town. At the beginning of this April, one of Magnolia’s installation attempts failed, leaving residents without water for 37 hours.

St. Joseph

St. Joseph is in Tensas Parish, located in the northeastern part of the state along the eastern bank of the Mississippi River.831 people live in St. Joseph.In late 2016, Louisiana’s then governor, John Bel Edwards, declared a public health emergency when a few homes tested had high levels of lead. After further testing, lead contamination was found in 22% of St. Joseph’s buildings, primarily due to old lead pipes. Apparently, the city had been experiencing water issues for years before this incident. St. Joseph’s residents were advised not to drink, brush their teeth, bathe, or cook with tap water. After the state invested $11 million in St. Joseph’s 90-year-old water system, it finally reopened in March 2018. Residents had relied on water delivered by truck for more than a year while the system was undergoing repairs.

Why Solutions Are Difficult to Implement

Addressing rural drinking water problems requires significant external local funding—which rural communities often lack—to maintain and repair aging water systems. Small populations and high poverty rates make it difficult for a city to improve its drinking water systems enough  to prevent a private operating company stepping in.

If communities wanted to support new drinking water infrastructure on their own, they would need to raise residents’ water bills, including those of low-income residents. If communities request funding from the state, the state requires them to demonstrate they can maintain these systems, which, again, would require raising water bills for residents. State Representative Zeringue, who sits on the Water Sector Commission, noted, “You have people literally drinking and bathing in bad, brown water, and, unfortunately, some of these communities cannot afford to upgrade their systems and, just as challenging, even if we [could] afford to upgrade it, they can’t afford to charge the rates to maintain them.” After St. Joseph’s water system reopened in 2018, residents saw a minimum 45% rate increase in their water bills. Additionally, Magnolia Water told Killian residents to expect their water bills to increase from an average of $28 to $65 at the start of the new year. There were even increases in water bills in Tallulah, though residents said they would be willing to pay the difference if it meant the company would take permanent control of the drinking water system. Even when these small towns pool their money over the years to address these issues, it is still not enough, leaving them pleading for more funds from external sources. In simple terms, the needs of communities outweigh the funding available locally, and state and federal assistance are not enough to close the gap.

Current Efforts and Support Programs

The EPA assists by allocating money to state health departments for small communities through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) program. The EPA assesses the improvement needs of eligible public water systems every four years to determine how to allot DWSRF funds among states.In March 2018, the EPA issued the 2015 Drinking Water Needs Survey and Assessment, which outlines the needs for DWSRF-eligible infrastructure projects from 2015 to 2034.This survey indicates that $472.6 billion will be needed for infrastructure improvements over the next 20 years ($19.2 billion annually) to ensure the provision of safe drinking water across the United States. Based on the survey, Louisiana was found to be in the $5.0 to 14.9 billion need range for this year. Since 2015, Louisiana has received over $230 million in DWSRF program funding for drinking water infrastructure projects, but future funding remains uncertain.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) (or Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) was enacted in November 2021 to modernize the nation’s infrastructure, bringing record investments in drinking water upgrades. In FY2022, Louisiana received over $101 million to improve its water infrastructure. While it is unclear how much of this money has been allocated to rural communities, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law mandates that most of the funding be provided to disadvantaged communities. While the state has received much-needed investment, BIL’s boost in drinking water funding only lasted through FY2026.

Other funding sources, such as the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and the Community Water Enrichment Fund (state funding), and their purposes or uses of funds, can be found here. According to recent news, funds from both the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and the Clean Water State Revolving Fund escaped massive cuts and freezes by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) last year. Initially, the Trump administration proposed cutting the DWSRF by 65%, resulting in Louisiana losing $9,614,000 in funding.The funding difference for Louisiana, the other 49 states, U.S. territories, and tribal communities between FY25 and FY26 can be found here. Funding from the Community Water Enrichment Fund (CWEF) has also been allocated for the 2025-2026 fiscal year in Louisiana.²² From the CWEF, each parish will receive $156,000. Between FY25 and FY26, the BIL faced significant funding disruptions, resulting in a loss of roughly $15 billion.

Lastly, the Louisiana Rural Water Association (LWRA) is a non-profit organization that assists rural drinking water systems through training, on-site technical assistance, education of residents on the rules and regulations of their local water systems, and ensuring that drinking water systems comply with federal and state standards.LRWA staff are experts in water and wastewater operations and management, playing a key role in providing water and wastewater technical assistance to rural areas and over 2,700 water and wastewater systems each year in Louisiana.

Conclusion

Louisiana’s rural drinking water crisis is a multifaceted issue that requires long-term solutions and fundamental changes. Rural drinking water systems will need federal and state financial prioritization, along with long-term infrastructure planning and equitable funding strategies. Access to safe drinking water is not a luxury but a public health necessity, and it should be recognized as a fundamental human right under U.S. law. Action must be taken now before the problem becomes irreversible.

Sources:

¹ Braun, P. (2021, December 1). Louisiana towns in need of clean water infrastructure wait longer as $300M gets delayed. Baton Rouge Public Radio. https://www.wrkf.org/news/2021-12-01/louisiana-towns-in-need-of-clean-water-infrastructure-wait-longer-as-300m-gets-delayed

² Mitchell, D. (2024, May 13). Louisiana’s Rural Water Problems Persist Despite Federal Aid. Governing. https://www.governing.com/infrastructure/louisianas-rural-water-problems-persist-despite-federal-aid

³ United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). Monterey CDP, Louisiana. https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q=Monterey+CDP%2C+Louisiana&search%3Atab=Infographics#search

⁴ Karlin, S. (2025, May 13). As water runs brown in rural Louisiana, residents fear water systems are ‘ticking time bomb’. nola.com. https://www-nola-com.tulane.idm.oclc.org/news/louisiana-rural-water-systems-infrastructure/article_7c41e090-e23b-4609-9e0f-d230fc71daca.html

⁵ United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). Killian town, Louisiana. https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q=Killian%20town,%20Louisiana

⁶ Thornton, S. (2026, January 14). ‘It’s too easy to have clean water’: Business offers discount on private wells amid Killian water crisis. Unfiltered with Kiran. https://unfilteredwithkiran.com/killian-water-crisis-residents-turn-to-private-wells/

⁷ Remrey, M. (2025, Febraury 14). Governor Jeff Landry declares State of Emergency for Tallulah Water System. Knoe News 8. https://www.knoe.com/2025/02/14/governor-jeff-landry-declares-state-emergency-tallulah-water-system/

⁸ Plunk, E., Dufalla, L., & Powell, P. (2026, February 23). Brown water and boil notices: Small towns struggle with failing water systems. Arkansas Advocate. https://arkansasadvocate.com/2026/02/23/repub/brown-water-and-boil-notices-small-towns-struggle-with-failing-water-systems/

⁹ WBRZ. (2026, April 9). Killian mayor demands answers from Magnolia Water after he says botched installation leaves town dry. https://www.wbrz.com/news/killian-mayor-demands-answers-from-magnolia-water-after-he-says-botched-installation-leaves-town-dry/

¹⁰ United States Census Bureau. (n.d.). St. Joseph town, Louisiana. https://www.census.gov/search-results.html?searchType=web&cssp=SERP&q=St.%20Joseph%20town,%20Louisiana

¹¹ Louisiana Boil Water Notices Paint a Picture of the State’s Failing Drinking Water Infrastructure. (2021, May 13). New Orleans Public Radio. https://www.wwno.org/news/2021-05-13/louisiana-boil-water-notices-paint-a-picture-of-the-states-failing-drinking-water-infrastructure

¹² Murphy, P. (2026, January 5). Killian residents hope new water company will fix years of brown water problems. https://www.wwltv.com/article/news/health/killian-residents-hope-new-water-company-will-fix-years-of-brown-water-problems/289-e6ca53aa-d9fc-43c6-a6e4-03c6e3400ef0

¹³ Wright, T. (2019, January 24). Tough choices ahead for Louisiana’s struggling water systems. The Lens. https://thelensnola.org/2019/01/24/tough-choices-ahead-for-louisianas-struggling-water-systems

¹⁴ Congressional Research Service. (2018, October 2). Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF): Overview, Issues, and Legislation [PDF of Overview of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF)]. https://www.congress.gov/crs-products

¹⁵ Environmental Protection Agency. (2017, January). Addressing Water Affordability with the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund [PDF of Overview of the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program]. https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-08/addressing-water-affordability-with-the-dwsrf_0.pdf

¹⁶Metropolitan Transportation Commission. (n.d.). Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). https://mtc.ca.gov/advocacy/federal-advocacy/bipartisan-infrastructure-law-bil

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[1] At the beginning of 2025, the Louisiana Department of Health had brought in Magnolia Water to oversee Tallulah’s (another rural city in Madison Parish) drinking water system while in a state of emergency due to low-grade water and frequent outages. Since the company has been overseeing Tallulah’s drinking water system, improvements have been made.

* Leela Prodhan is currently a MPH in Environmental Health Sciences Candidate at the Tulane University Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. She was a Law & Policy Research Intern at the Tulane Institute on Water Resources Law & Policy in late 2025.