Arkansas lawmakers passed several bills during this year's legislative session to upgrade and improve the state's water and wastewater systems.
One of the measures is Act 578, which would provide $500 million for projects through 2043.
Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Ward said the state's current infrastructure has been in place for decades, and repairs are constantly needed.
"There's still a very big need," said Ward. "Just about every week, we hear stories of some sort of water-wastewater system failing, or not adequate or needs to expand or needs to contract. All of those infrastructure issues continue."
Act 578 must be approved by voters in the 2026 general election. Lawmakers also passed a $25 million grant program to help municipalities in emergency situations.
More than a half a million dollars in bills were passed during the session to address current and future water needs of all 75 Arkansas counties.
Ward said the state's water plan was updated last year for the first time since 2014.
"We expect when we turn on our faucet that it's going to work and that it's going to be clean and you can use it," said Ward. "We're seeing growing instances where that's not always the case, and so it's incredibly important - we do want people to take it for granted, but they also need to understand there's a lot of infrastructure and things behind the scenes to make that work."
Officials are currently taking an inventory of all levees across the state to ensure they are structurally sound and can function properly during heavy flooding.