Reinstatement and Protection of the EPA WaterSense Program
September 17, 2026
The Honorable Senator Patty Murray
United States Senate
154 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
SUBJECT: Reinstatement and Protection of the EPA WaterSense Program
Dear Patty Murray,
I am writing to request immediate legislative action to restore and protect the United States Environmental Protection Agency WaterSense program. Eliminating this non-regulatory
program disrupts established market frameworks, increases compliance costs for commercial supply chains, and reverses decades of bipartisan efficiency progress.
Program History and Legislative Context
WaterSense was established under a voluntary, bipartisan framework with foundational contributions from municipal utility specialists, including Allan Dietemann of Seattle Public Utilities. Mr. Dietemann received the 2007 EPA Water Efficiency Leader Award for pioneering
conservation initiatives that fundamentally changed national appliance standards and utility practices. The program was engineered as a public-private market transformation tool. It
incentivizes manufacturing innovation without imposing mandatory federal mandates on private enterprise.
Empirical Program Metrics Through 2024
Independent EPA reporting demonstrates exceptional return on investment and resource savings:
● Cumulative Water Savings: 9.9 trillion gallons of water conserved across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors since inception.
● Direct Consumer Savings: 245 billion dollars saved by utility customers on combined water and energy expenses.
● Grid and Carbon Efficiency: Millions of megawatt-hours of electricity saved by reducing water pumping, treatment, and heating overhead, directly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Economic and Market Impacts of Cancellation
Terminating WaterSense introduces structural inefficiencies across national supply chains:
● Regulatory Patchworks: Removing a unified federal benchmark forces manufacturers to navigate conflicting state-level compliance mandates, expanding legal and operational overhead.
● Procurement Disruption: Municipal utilities, commercial builders, and federal agencies rely on WaterSense certification standards to execute mandatory efficiency procurement policies.
● Private Capital Losses: Plumbing and appliance manufacturers spent significant capital aligning production facilities and product R&D with federal WaterSense benchmarks.
Specific Legislative Actions Requested
I request that your office execute the following legislative measures:
- Insert statutory language into upcoming appropriations bills to mandate the immediate restoration and full funding of the WaterSense program.
- Initiate committee oversight inquiries regarding executive actions that defund high-ROI, voluntary federal efficiency programs.
- Introduce legislation to permanently codify the WaterSense certification framework into federal statute.
Thank you for your time and service to Washington state. I look forward to receiving a written reply outlining the specific steps your office plans to take on this matter.
Sincerely,
Kimberley Dietemann