The nation's 54,000 drinking water systems and 16,000 wastewater systems face infrastructure funding needs of nearly $1 trillion over the next 20 years and shortfall of a half a trillion dollars, according to Clean and Safe Water for the 21st Century - a report released by the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN).
Although America's drinking water and wastewater systems spend $23 billion per year for infrastructure, they face an annual shortfall of another $23 billion to replace aging facilities and comply with existing and future federal water regulations, the report said.
The Water Infrastructure Network is comprised of drinking water and wastewater associations; local elected officials; state government organizations; environmental organizations; and associations representing engineers, contractors, fabricators, and water and wastewater equipment manufacturers.
WIN called on the federal government to make investment in drinking water and wastewater infrastructure a national priority.
According to figures compiled by member organizations, the cost of building, operating and maintaining needed drinking water and wastewater facilities over the next 20 years approaches $2 trillion. Annually that would require about $95 billion in capital and O&M expenditures, of which some $50 billion is needed for drinking water, compared to roughly $36 billion in current local expenditures for drinking water, and $45 billion for wastewater, compared to roughly $25 billion in current local expenditures. About half the 20-year need, or roughly $1 trillion, is associated with capital investment in plants, water distribution systems and wastewater collection systems.
Three trends contribute to this level of need: increasing federal mandates for clean water and safe drinking water; increasing unit costs of attaining these requirements using more complex technology and increased use of chemicals and energy; and historical under-recognition of the cost to replace aging and failing water and wastewater pipes.
"The benefits of drinking water and wastewater infrastructure to the nation's well-being cannot be overstated," a WIN spokesman said. "Yet local governments and ratepayers must fund 90 percent of clean and safe water infrastructure costs while grappling with competing needs to educate children, maintain roads and transportation systems, fight crime, and provide social services. The federal government should not make communities choose between providing safe and clean water and funding other necessary community programs. Nor should families be forced to pay unaffordable water rates. Better solutions are needed."
Over the past 20 years federal contributions have declined by 75 percent in real terms and today represent only about 10 percent of total capital outlays for water and wastewater infrastructure and less than 5 percent of total water and wastewater outlays, WIN reported.
Without a significantly enhanced federal role in providing assistance to drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, critical investments will not occur, the report notes.
"The question is not whether the federal government should take more responsibility for drinking water and wastewater improvements," said WIN, "but how."
Federal solutions could take the form of direct grants from the General Fund, a dedicated Clean and Safe Water Trust Fund, or other forms of targeted assistance, WIN said. The goal should be to provide sufficient funding to meet the investment needs, insure an equitable distribution of funds, and provide stability and long-run predictability of capital.
The American Water Works Association is a member of the Water Infrastructure Network. A spokesman for the association warned that consumer water rates could double if aging pipe and other infrastructure replacement costs are not properly funded.
"The national water infrastructure is over four times larger than the federally funded national highway system, yet the federal government has made no commitment to help rehabilitate it," said AWWA President Steve Gorden. "The WIN report makes clear that such an approach will not only impact our public health, but consumer pocket books as well."
The report projects drinking and wastewater facilities will need to invest nearly $1 trillion in treatment plants, distribution systems and wastewater collection systems over the next 20 years. However, investment by utilities is falling short, partially because of expensive treatment and technology upgrades needed to comply with increasing federal regulations. If federal funding is not made available to help combat this shortcoming, the report suggests that water and sewer rates across the country will "more than double".
The WIN report provides historical evidence of the federal government's commitment to other national infrastructures, such as the dredging of regional waterways by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the construction and expansion of the nation's highway system during the 1950's and 1960's.
Failure to fully fund water infrastructure could reverse the environmental, public health, and economic gains of the last three decades, warned WEF President Al Goodman, founder/president of A.W. Goodman & Associates (New Albany, Ind.), an environmental consulting firm.
"In the United States, we are fortunate to have ready access to clean water and safe drinking water. Protecting our precious water resources, however, requires a continuing investment," Goodman said. "It is our hope that this report will prompt attention from the public and policy makers, and will foster a dialogue on solutions to this investment crisis. WEF members, as water quality professionals directly involved in providing clean water, stand ready to contribute to this dialogue."
Copies of Clean and Safe Water for the 21st Century were available in PDF format on the WEF Internet site, http://www.wef.org.
The Water Infrastructure Network consists of several organizations including AWWA, WEF, the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies, the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, as well as stakeholder groups such as the National League of Cities. The group compiled its report in an attempt to present the infrastructure problem to the federal government.
"This report makes the serious impacts of ignoring our water infrastructure crisis crystal clear," concluded Gorden. "Without prompt action from the federal government, paying a water bill will soon make those impacts obvious to consumers."
