New Jersey’s Water Infrastructure Improvement Plan (WIIP) took a significant step forward with the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP’s) release of final Intended Use Plans that include billions of dollars of requests for water-quality improvement and public-health protection projects, DEP officials announced.

State applicants had submitted a record 679 potential project ideas, totaling $6.79 billion. The potential projects include a wide range of improvements to drinking water systems to better protect public health and improve the delivery of reliable water to residents and businesses, as well as upgrades to wastewater treatment systems that would protect and improve the quality of New Jersey’s waterways.