Drinking water infrastructure funding analyzed in new report

June 26, 2013
A new report from American Rivers helps people better understand how water utilities finance new drinking water infrastructure projects.

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 26, 2013 -- American Rivers recently released the report, "Drinking water infrastructure: Who Pays and How," to help water, community and taxpayer advocates better understand how water utilities finance new drinking water infrastructure projects.

This report is a valuable tool that provides important and timely information about how to preserve water quality and healthy river flows while ensuring safe, adequate water supplies for the future. Further, it's a call to action for advocates as they engage with drinking water utilities, city councils that set water rates, and the State Revolving Fund administrators that help to finance 21st century water infrastructure.

Drinking water infrastructure in the United States received a "D" grade in the 2013 report card on America's infrastructure by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The American Water Works Association estimates that replacing pipes in the roughly 240,000 water main breaks that occur in the United States every year would cost more than $1 trillion over the coming decades.

"From leaky pipes to sewage overflows, our country's water infrastructure is in dire need of upgrades. Our outdated infrastructure cannot keep pace with changing demand for water and wastewater treatment, growing population and increasingly heavy storms," said Jeff Odefey, director of stormwater programs for American Rivers. "We need to make infrastructure investments that will best meet the needs of present and future generations. This report helps community and water advocates understand not only how to be more effective opponents of destructive and bloated infrastructure projects, but also how to be more effective proponents of cost-effective modern water infrastructure solutions that support river health," said Odefey.

The report covers such important topics as:

  • How Do Water Systems Pay for Infrastructure?
  • What Risks Come Along With Financing Water Infrastructure?
  • Why Don’t Water Systems Put Conservation First?
  • How Should Water Systems Structure Their Rates?
  • How Do Water Systems Pay for Conservation?
  • How Do We Balance Conservation and Affordability?
  • How Do We Build Support for Conservation?

The report is available at www.americanrivers.org/advocateguide

About American Rivers

American Rivers is the leading organization working to protect and restore the nation’s rivers and streams. Rivers connect us to each other, nature, and future generations. Since 1973, American Rivers has fought to preserve these connections, helping protect and restore more than 150,000 miles of rivers through advocacy efforts, on-the-ground projects, and the annual release of America’s Most Endangered Rivers®.

Headquartered in Washington, DC, American Rivers has offices across the country and more than 100,000 supporters, members, and volunteers nationwide. Visit www.americanrivers.org.

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