As part of the Department of Defense's (DOD) military transformation initiative, the U.S. Pacific Command developed the Guam Integrated Military Development Plan (GIMDP) in 2006. The marine relocation from Okinawa to Guam, one of the main pillars of the plan, would bring about a massive influx of people within a short period of time to the small island in the Pacific.

The GIMDP has an enormous impact in several areas of the lives of all the residents of Guam, including civilians. The public water system is one of those areas. However, the DOD and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) have different views on how the impact on the public water system would affect civilians on the island.

The EPA has been concerned about the impact on veterans who reside in Guam, and tried to address the issue through the Environmental Impact Statement of the GIMDP. More importantly, the U.S. Congress has suddenly started paying attention to the GIMDP 's impact on the Guam public water system since the mid-term election in 2010. The historical defeat of the Democrats in 2010 triggered such a change, partly because the difficulties that white veterans in the mainland face have become a federal issue.