Congress should pass legislation this year to renew the nation's commitment to clean and safe water, according to a new report from the Water Infrastructure Network (WIN), a coalition of local elected officials, drinking water and wastewater service providers, environmental groups, labor unions, and construction and engineering professionals. - A new dry polymer preparation system from Severn Trent Services features an air driven feed that helps lower maintenance by keeping the dry and wet parts of the system separated.
In a recent report, entitled Water Infrastructure Now, the network called for a five-year, $57 billion federal investment in drinking water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure to replace aging pipes, upgrade treatment systems and continue to protect public health and the environment. The report also urged Congress to create a long-term, sustainable and reliable source of federal funding for clean and safe water.
The funding increase is urgently needed to help close a $23 billion per year gap between infrastructure needs and current spending. Local governments and their ratepayers currently cover 90 percent of the costs to build, operate and maintain public water and sewer systems. But, as older systems deteriorate and water quality rules tighten, local budgets simply cannot keep pace, the report said.
"The staggering cost of maintaining, operating, rehabilitating, and replacing our aging water infrastructure requires a new partnership between federal, state and local government," said Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer, President of the National League of Cities. "We call upon the new leadership in Washington to renew the federal financial commitment to assist local governments in meeting the growing water and wastewater infrastructure needs."
To bridge the investment gap, the federal government should meet localities halfway - by authorizing an average of $11.5 billion in capitalization funds over five years - the report proposes. States would receive the funds and in turn offer grants and loans to local agencies.
Other legislative recommendations in the report include:
- Authorizing a variety of financing mechanisms, such as grants, loans, loan subsidies and credit assistance;
- Focusing on critical "core" water and wastewater infrastructure needs and nonpoint source pollution;
- Streamlining the federal and state administration of infrastructure funds and adequately financing state programs;
- Establishing a new program for technology and management innovation to reduce costs, prolong the life of America's water infrastructure and improve productivity; and
- Providing expanded, targeted technical assistance to communities most in need.
"The costs facing water systems arise from a number of factors, including aging distribution systems and treatment facilities, changing demographics of urban communities and expensive, new water treatment technologies," said Julius Ciaccia, the Water Commissioner of Cleveland and a board member of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.
The need for up-to-date drinking water systems is undeniable. The Centers for Disease Control in 1999 pointed to drinking water agencies as the first line of defense in protecting public health. And by providing adequate supplies to industries that rely on treated water for processing and manufacturing, water systems create direct economic benefit across every sector of the economy.
"New options and more dollars are needed to continue protecting public health," Ciaccia said, "and the nation's water suppliers are eager to work with Congress to do this."
Although most people in the industry agree that additional funding is needed to help support infrastructure needs, concerns about the WIN Now report have been raised by the H20 Coalition, which represents a number of water industry associations.
"WIN would have the American taxpayer pay for a multi-billion dollar bail-out of the coming infrastructure funding problem without doing anything systemically to address the underlying causes of the looming crisis," said Peter Cook of the National Association of Water Companies, and H20 Coalition member.
"History has shown that these sorts of programs breed inefficiency, encourage dependency, stifle innovation, and do nothing to solve the fundamental problems," said Cook. "The goal of our industry should be long-term self-sustainability, not perpetual reliance on subsidies to water utilities," Cook said.
Dawn Kristof, President of the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association and H20 Coalition member, said the WIN Now Report "represents a step backward for an industry that has already evolved away from dependency on federal grants."
Members of the H20 Coalition want to see additional federal funding through expansion of the existing State Revolving Loan Fund program and through limited grants. Utilities receiving grants should have to show an economic need for the funding, coalition members believe.
At some water and wastewater utilities, if customers were to pay for the increased capital investment needed, the resulting rates would be unaffordable to many customers. This is a social problem with health and other implications that federal assistance can help address, the H20 Coalition stated in a press release. The most serious health or environmental problems that communities cannot afford to address on their own should be considered for federal assistance first. Since federal funds are not unlimited, communities whose customers can afford to pay should not be a high priority for federal assistance, the release said.
