Water and wastewater infrastructure is essential, and survey after survey shows that it needs substantial investment in maintenance and upgrades. It’s important to deliver that message to people who control the purse.
In that vein, the Water Environment Federation made a pitch at the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting, which drew 300 mayors to Washington, D.C. Jeff Eger, WEF executive director, briefed the Mayors Water Council on the federation’s Water for Jobs: Water Puts America to Work campaign (http://www.waterforjobs.org), which makes the business case for infrastructure investment by emphasizing the link between that investment and job creation.
Launched in September 2012, the campaign has support from 17 national partners and 32 WEF member associations, representing more than 30,000 water-quality professionals. They are working to send a unified message to elected officials that infrastructure investment must be a top priority. The campaign partners will host an Infrastructure Summit in April to bring national attention to the critical issue.
One wonders why anyone needs to be told that infrastructure is important – but of course we live in a time when in some circles “government spending” is considered almost a sacrilege. Elected officials are under perhaps greater pressure than ever to hold taxes down – and never mind the consequences.
The reality, Eger observed during the briefing, is that “There has never been a more critical time to reinvest in our essential water infrastructure.” He noted that much of the nation’s water and wastewater infrastructure was built more than a century ago, and lack of investment in the networks of pipes, tunnels and tanks has left much of it in disrepair – threatening the foundation of the national economy and quality of life.
He cited a recent report from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) that gave the nation’s drinking and wastewater infrastructure a D- grade. In the report, “Failure to Act: The Impact of Current Infrastructure Investment on America’s Economic Future,” (http://www.asce.org/uploadedFiles/Infrastructure/Failure_to_Act/SCE44%20summary_report_FINAL-hires.pdf), ASCE found that “water related infrastructure in the United States is clearly aging, and investment is not able to keep up with the need.” It contended that if the current trend continues, the U.S. could lose nearly 700,000 jobs by 2020, and 1.4 million by 2040.
Over the last several months, the U.S. EPA has started a dialogue with local governments, led by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, to clarify how communities’ financial capability will be considered in developing schedules for municipal projects needed to meet Clean Water Act obligations.
Clearly it is long past time for the nation, states, counties, cities, villages and utilities to get serious about protecting and improving the water infrastructure on which life and health quite literally depend. And that starts with public officials and individual citizens understanding the need and why it is so critical.
