How federal budget decisions shape lead-reduction efforts
Why federal decisions matter for neighborhood pipes, research labs, and low-income countries
Navigating Denver’s construction season
Construction season in Denver means orange cones, closed streets, and the occasional detour. Before I start grumbling, I remind myself that many of those crews are digging for the Lead Reduction Program, Denver Water’s effort to remove every lead service line, an estimated 64,000 – 84,000 pipes, by 2035.
When a Brita pitcher landed on my doorstep
In March 2020 Denver Water left more than 100,000 Brita pitchers and filter cartridges on doorsteps suspected of having lead pipes. The flyer inside said we should use the filter until our line is replaced and that the utility would mail new cartridges every six months for up to 15 years!😮
The timing could hardly have been worse. COVID-19 lockdowns had just begun, so any notice about “contamination” felt ominous. The leaflet also downplayed a crucial point: the pipes being replaced are customer-owned, yet Denver Water will cover the full cost. A clearer headline could have been, “Free pipe replacement coming to your home” but that message never quite seemed to break through.
What the program has achieved so far
Communication miscues aside, progress is real. By late 2024 the utility had replaced more than 30,000 lines, nearly half of the inventory it needs to tackle. Federal money then helped to accelerate the program. Denver Water secured $76 million from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), part of the law’s $15 billion national set-aside for lead pipes, allowing crews to accelerate the schedule and aim for completion within about ten years. Many blocks in my neighborhood are under construction this summer for exactly that reason.
A slower pace: What Chicago reveals
I was recently made aware of Chicago’s slow progress towards lead pipe replacement. Chicago still has about 412,000 lead service lines. City plans filed this spring outline a replacement schedule stretching to 2076, far slower than the new EPA rule’s ten-year mandate. Decades of additional exposure will fall hardest on low-income and Black neighborhoods that already bear the heaviest lead burden.
Potential budget changes that may slow progress
The proposed FY 2026 federal budget would reduce overall EPA funding from $9.1 billion to $4.2 billion, a 54% reduction, and shrink the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to $150 million, an 87% reduction. This fund is the primary funding mechanism for lead pipe work nationwide. Even partial adoption could stretch Denver and Chicago’s timeline and stall cities that have yet to start.
Innovation on pause: the Northwestern rapid test
Researchers at Northwestern developed an at-home test strip that detects lead and began pilot studies in Chicago in 2023. In April, 2025 the administration issued stop-work orders freezing federal grants, including the lead-testing project. When the lead program in Denver rolled out, I immediately sent my water away for testing. I waited weeks for lab results. A simple test strip could have provided instant feedback. Whether that technology moves forward could hinge on current federal funding debates.
Zooming out – lead beyond pipes and the US
While water infrastructure has recently grabbed headlines in the United States, the World Health Organization lists several other dominant exposure routes worldwide including informal recycling of used lead-acid batteries, lead-based paint, household dust, spices, cosmetics, low-fired ceramic cookware, and soil contamination near smelters, mines, and e-waste sites. For example, studies in Bangladesh and Georgia have found industrial pigments used to enhance the color of turmeric are a major source of lead exposure, poisoning entire communities through a common household staple. The consequences are not just physical, the World Bank estimates that the cognitive damage from childhood lead exposure results in an annual economic loss of nearly $1 trillion globally due to lost lifetime earnings.
A 2023 Lancet Planetary Health analysis estimated 5.5 million adult cardiovascular deaths in 2019 were attributable to lead, with about 90% occurring in low-to middle-income countries (LMICs). A 2025 BMJ Global Health paper introduced the cumulative population blood-lead level (cpBLL) and found that twelve LMICs carry roughly 60% of the global burden, underscoring where interventions could have the biggest payoff.
Global lead funding
The Partnership for a Lead-Free Future made headlines when USAID and UNICEF launched it at the UN General Assembly in September 2024 with $150 million in initial pledges. About $25 million was expected to come from USAID, but those funds are likely on pause under the current foreign aid freeze.
Philanthropic partners, who made their commitments at the same launch, remain in play. Open Philanthropy’s Lead Exposure Action Fund (LEAF) has pledged more than $100 million for measurement, mitigation, and advocacy work. One of LEAF’s largest grants, $17 million to Pure Earth supports advocacy, policy reform, and targeted on-the-ground projects in seven countries where cookware, spices, and informal battery recycling drive much of the exposure. Another organization, the Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP) works directly with governments in countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan to design and implement cost-effective, nationwide regulations and interventions, providing the technical support needed to take successful programs to scale.
Whether the philanthropic share will cover the likely loss of the USAID contribution is still uncertain.
How federal budget decisions shape lead-reduction efforts
Throughout this article we have seen how decisions made in Washington ripple outward, from the block-by-block pipe work in Denver to research labs in Chicago and public-health projects overseas. Here are three concrete examples now hanging on the federal budget in Congress:
City pipe replacement
The FY 2026 budget request would shrink the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund by about 87%, limiting the low-interest loans that utilities rely on.Global Commitments
Roughly $25 million of Partnership for a Lead-Free Future, committed by USAID is likely paused and at risk under the current restructuring of foreign aid.New technology
Northwestern University’s at-home lead test is in jeopardy with frozen research grants.
Appropriations committees will revise these numbers through the summer, and proposed cuts often shrink before the final bill is signed. Wherever they land may determine how fast Denver and Chicago can finish pulling out its last lead pipes, how soon rapid tests reach Chicago households, and how quickly new lead-exposure projects start in the countries that need them most. Ultimately, the lines on a federal budget spreadsheet will translate directly into lead levels in the blood of children, shaping public health for a generation both at home and abroad.