LANSING - Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced a $500 million investment that will aim to rebuild Michigan’s water infrastructure.

The money investment will follow Michigan’s water systems from its original source to tap.

“The MI Clean Water investment will help us rebuild Michigan’s water infrastructure and will prioritize and invest directly into protecting our public health, environment, and economy,” said Whitmer. “The MI Clean Water Plan is a critical part of the solution, but the work cannot stop here. I look forward to working with the legislature to find creative solutions to address our water infrastructure backlog.”

The MI Clean Water investment will provide direct investments into communities.

“It’s time for the legislature to take bold actions to invest in Michigan’s infrastructure and protect our water from toxic contamination,” said Whitmer. “I'm calling on the legislature to authorize EGLE to use the remainder of the voter-approved 2002 Great Lakes Water Quality bond during this legislative session.”

The investment will be broken up into two categories, drinking water quality and wastewater protection.

Some points the drinking water category will focus on lead service line replacement in disadvantaged communities and drinking water assessment management.

In the wastewater protection category, some of the points of focus will include stormwater assessment management, correcting combined sewer overflows and removing continuous and direct discharges of raw sewage from both ground and surface water.

“As Benjamin Franklin said, ‘when the well is dry, we know the worth of water.’ I don’t think we should wait and find out what that cost would be,” said Senator Rick Outman, R-Six Lakes.

The money investment will also work to support over 7,500 jobs for Michigan workers.

“This plan will allow us to address these issues while creating thousands of good-paying jobs. I am excited to put Michiganders to work to clean up our state,” said Representative Kevin Hertel, D-St. Clair Shores.