Infrastructure You Can’t See
When we talk about funding infrastructure, why is it that roads, bridges, and airports get the attention? Probably because we all see them every day and a failure is catastrophic (always making today’s news). Our public investment in water and wastewater infrastructure is one of our largest national investments in terms of dollars spent. Yet, we’re letting it deteriorate below our feet. Do we ignore it because we can’t see it?
ASCE’s 2009 ranking of both our public water and wastewater systems was a D-. They estimate that we lose 7 billion gallons of water each day from leaking water pipes. ASCE estimates that we send billions of gallons of untreated wastewater into water bodies every year. If this isn’t a catastrophe, what is?
Many systems were built in the 1960s and ’70s using primarily federal funds as our federal government recognized that you don’t have growth if you can’t meet water and wastewater needs. Many of these systems are now 50+ years old and in need of repair or replacement, not to mention upgrades to meet current and near-term demand for growth. Just because we don’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not a problem! I hope you join me in calling for significant funding increases for water and wastewater infrastructure, along with a strategic national plan for near-term and long-term investment in this most critical public investment.
