The New York Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has released the 2022 Report Card for New York's Infrastructure, with 11 categories of infrastructure receiving an overall grade of a ‘C’, meaning New York’s infrastructure is in mediocre condition. In water infrastructure, drinking water received a ‘C-’ and wastewater received a ‘D+.’
New York State (NYS) has taken recent steps to improve its infrastructure with record levels of funding. However, ASCE says that these improvements are short lived and will need to be expanded to address future needs. Civil engineers graded aviation (C+), bridges (C-), dams (C), drinking water (C-), parks (B-), ports (C+), rail (C), roads (D+), solid waste (B-), transit (D+) and wastewater (D+).
Drinking water (C-) investment has not kept pace with the demand. The 20-year need for drinking water infrastructure is estimated at $38.2 billion, but water system revenue has only been growing at about the rate of inflation and many proposed improvements go unfunded. Nearly 40 percent of New York City’s pipes were placed prior to 1941, despite the design life of these pipes being 50-70 years. Treated water loss is a sizeable issue throughout much of NYS, with some utilities having upwards of 40 percent unaccounted for water, which represents lost revenue potential, decreased system capacity, and increased treatment costs. This is also much higher than the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) industry goal of 10 percent or less unaccounted water.
“This report illuminates concerns with our infrastructure that sometimes are out-of-sight, out-of-mind, such as drinking water pipelines and wastewater systems,” said George Kalkowsky, co-chair, 2022 Report Card for New York’s Infrastructure. “We must prioritize these systems to protect New York families and businesses because failing to do so can lead to issues we don’t recognize until it’s too late. It is far more cost effective to prioritize maintenance before issues arise.
New York’s wastewater systems are also aging beyond their useful life, as approximately 40 percent of New York’s 35,000 miles of sewers are more than 60 years old and about 10 percent were built before 1925. According to the Office of the NYS Comptroller, there are currently 800 combined sewer outfalls (an outlet along the waterfront connecting the city’s sewers to open waters) in New York State and approximately 6.5 billion gallons of untreated combined sewer and stormwater were released in 2017 due to Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). CSOs are the release of partially treated or untreated sanitary waste which can contaminate surface waters and threaten public health.
The report also includes calls to action to raise the grades, including the recommendation that New York agencies employ technical training and apprenticeship programs to address operational worker shortfalls. The report also calls for further actions to be taken to increase the lifespans of new infrastructure assets, implementing policies that allow agencies to test new materials, utilize new construction techniques, and take advantage of alternative delivery mechanisms, including design-build.
