In the turmoil of reaching a funding agreement to keep the federal government open in March, the congressional earmark process was among the casualties. For New Jersey that meant the potential for $200 million in funding for more than 200 projects across the state was lost.
In that number was $6.5 million meant for projects in Cape May County, including $4.1 million for flood mitigation projects in Wildwood Crest, $1.5 million toward the effort to replace the once-revolutionary Cape May City desalination plant, and $900,000 for a new fire truck for Wildwood.
The desalination plant replacement highlights the confusion and concern that has surrounded forms of federal funding in the early months of President Donald Trump’s administration.
The replacement of the plant is estimated to be a $30-million-plus project, one the city has repeatedly said it cannot undertake without federal and state help. In January the city received the good news that the Water Resources Development Act passed Congress, with $40 million aimed at funding a new plant.
However, that was only an authorization; without an actual appropriation of funds there are no dollars to be spent.
The pioneering water desalination plant is 25 years old and in need of replacement. The equipment is aging and increasingly inefficient, the building is too small to support expanded service, and the plant needs greater capacity to remove iron that is entering the water supply from one of its wells.
The plant, Cape May’s answer to saltwater intrusion into its wells, was constructed in 1995. It makes use of reverse osmosis technology to desalinate water from three wells that are all fed from the Atlantic City Sands Aquifer. A separate well fed by the Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer provides Cape May with a second water source that does not go through the plant’s two reverse osmosis units.
The revitalization effort has several goals. In addition to modernizing the aging technology, it would increase the plant’s ability to meet growing demand, while also bringing the plant into compliance with state regulations. Currently, the plant is not compliant with state rules regarding meeting peak capacity if one of its wells was lost for any period of time.
It is a project that is important to all of the Cape Island communities. Cape May City provides fresh water to all parts of the island, including West Cape May, parts of Lower Township, Cape May Point and the Coast Guard base.
Much of the work to date has been covered by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant for design development.
The design preserves the water treatment building on the property, which is more than a century old. The historic building’s architecture and brickwork will be copied in a similar façade for the new plant, which will sit adjacent to the older building in an area currently used for parking. Beyond the façade, the new building will be of steel construction.
Mayor Zach Mullock has repeatedly said engineering must follow funding, meaning that the city can only go as far in the design of the new facility as funding permits.
Now, with significant confusion over future federal dollars for local projects, the city is left to wonder if and when federal funding for the project might again be available.
The authorization under the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act remains in place. The city and its congressional representatives now hope to find ways to get the funding in the act appropriated.
Congress’ earmarks process failed to provide funding in the cases of the Cape May County projects, among numerous others. Earmarks are controversial ways for members of Congress to convince the voters back home that they are doing their job. The earmarks process allows them to fold specifically targeted funds aimed at specific local projects in their jurisdictions into appropriation bills.
But anyone hoping for a quick restoration of the earmarks that were cut when Congress passed a continuing resolution through September 2025 may be disappointed: There may not be a need for an appropriations bill during this upcoming period, as the government is now funded through the end of the federal fiscal year.
The best hope for Cape May and the desalination plant might be to get the bipartisan Water Development Resources Act appropriated with its $40 million for the plant intact.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
