By 2016, more than half of the country's sewer system will be in poor or very poor condition as age and under-funded repairs take their toll. At least that's the picture painted in a recent New York Times editorial.
The Times was reporting on a draft report prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency for Congress. At the time, the report was being reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget and a copy had been leaked to the Times. When the report would be officially released was unclear.
According to the report, spending to maintain and expand water and sewage systems is not keeping pace with aging infrastructure, population growth and tightening regulations. By 2019, the accumulated gap between actual and necessary investments in the nation's water and wastewater network is likely to exceed $650 billion.
EPA predicts that the shortfall in funding will lead to more frequent water and sewage pipeline leaks and breaks, higher maintenance costs, and a rise in coastal sewage pollution to levels not seen since the early 1970's.
Threats to water quality and quantity pose the greatest environmental challenge to the United States, in large part because of climate change and antiquated and deteriorating water systems, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman warned.
Speaking to reporters at a breakfast meeting in Washington, D.C., Whitman said she had asked for Congressional hearings this spring to help determine the extent of the water shortage and pollution control problems and the cost of solving them.
"Water is going to be the biggest environmental issue that we face in the 21st century, in terms of both quantity and quality," she said. "Look (at drought problems) around the United States and around the world. Look at the Mideast, where there's a severe drought going on. Clean water is a major problem in Afghanistan. We have a million children dying every year from waterborne diseases that are entirely preventable."
Several studies over the past year support Whitman's concern about water in the US and abroad.
The Water Infrastructure Network (WIN), EPA, and the General Accounting Office all have documented the significant and daunting funding shortfall facing water utilities. Over the next 20 years, according to WIN, America's wastewater systems will have to invest $12 billion a year more than current investments to replace aging and failing pipes and meet the increasing mandates of the Clean Water Act.
For the first time in years, both the House and Senate seem to be taking the issue of water infrastructure funding to heart. The House subcommittee on environment and hazardous materials recently held a hearing to examine problems with the nation's drinking-water supplies. A bill being marked up by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee would, over five years, put $20 billion into state loan pools for sewer improvements and $15 billion for drinking water projects. A House bill, focused on the sewage treatment problem, would provide $20 billion over five years.
Despite the action in committee, hopes of any real increase in federal funding of water infrastructure seem dim. It is unclear if any of the bills will make it to a vote of the full House or Senate. Given the declining federal budget and the current economy, it appears unlikely.
The looming problem of the nation's aging water infrastructure is real. Cities across the country need to begin planning now, if they haven't already started, for the hard choices ahead.
