Lake Mead, which provides water for 25 million people in the American West, has shrunk to 36 percent of its capacity. One rural California community has run out of water entirely after its well broke in early June. Fields are sitting fallow, as farmers sell their water allotments instead of growing crops, putting the nation’s food supply in peril.

As the West withers under extreme drought, legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced HR 4099, a bill that would direct the Secretary of the Interior to create a program to fund $750 million worth of water recycling projects in the 17 western states through the year 2027. (The bill, which was introduced at the end of June, is currently before the House Committee on Natural Resources.)

“This is beginning to be our new normal — 88 percent of the West is under some degree of drought,” says Representative Susie Lee, who introduced the bill. “Lake Mead is at the lowest level it has been at since the Hoover Dam was constructed. And the Colorado River has been in a drought for more than two decades.”

All the while, the population and economy in the western U.S. have been booming, putting tremendous pressure on a dwindling water supply. “We have, I guess, more people — one. And there’s an increase in the agricultural area —two,” says Representative Grace Napolitano, who introduced the bill. “And then climate change is exacerbating the problem.”

Part of the solution, the legislators say, is to fund the construction of more facilities that can recycle the wastewater that flows out of our sinks, toilets, and showers. You may think that’s gross and preposterous, but the technology already exists — in fact, it’s been around for half a century.

Read the full article about funding water recycling projects by Matt Simon at Grist.