Dozens of neighborhoods throughout Dallas don't have access to city water and sewer services. City Council has been trying to fix this problem for decades. Now, the Biden administration’s pandemic relief package, the American Rescue Plan, may speed up the process.

The plan is meant to provide help to individuals and governments recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. It also provides $350 billion for states, tribes, territories and local governments “to make necessary investments in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure,” according to the legislation.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax allocated some city money in the 2020-2021 budget to target the parts of Dallas without proper water service. The goal is to eliminate all 46 such occupied areas in Dallas within the next decade.