Arkansas to invest $575M for water infrastructure development plans

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — During the 2025 legislative session, Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed three acts into law she would be a $575 million investment into Arkansas’s water infrastructure.

In a press release, Sanders said that if Arkansas is going to “grow and thrive” it would do so by ensuring the need for access to safe and reliable water.

The new legislation includes SB420, now Act 736, which will allow more private entities to convert to public water authorities, allowing them to apply for additional state funding. 

Under the law, a “qualified corporation” that provides water to the public, commercial, and industrial users “may form or convert its entity status to be a water authority.”

HB1681, now Act 812, establishes the Water and Sewer Treatment Facilities Grant Program, which provides $25 million from interest earnings per year over the next three years to water and sewer facilities, with 20% earmarked for rural systems that serve 1,200 people or fewer. The other 80% of funding will be awarded to “shovel-ready projects” in cities or rural systems with a population greater than 1,200 people.

SB421, now Act 578, creates a ballot measure for the 2026 election that, if approved, would provide $500 million in water and wastewater project funding through 2043.

This ballot measure will either be voted on in the 2026 elections or in a special election called by Gov. Sanders.

Sanders said this $500 million would be paid for through loan repayments and “no increase to state general revenue” if approved.

“I was proud to work with the legislature to support this legislation and invest more than half a billion dollars in Arkansas’ water issues, and I will work closely with the Department of Agriculture to ensure we provide assistance to the communities that need it most,” Sanders said.

Arkansas’s current bond authority is set to expire in the summer of 2027.