The Value of Water Campaign recently announced that the sixth annual Infrastructure Week will take place May 14-21. Across the country, hundreds of businesses, labor organizations, and state and local elected officials will highlight the urgency of rebuilding and modernizing America's transportation, water, energy and communications infrastructure.
Infrastructure Week is led by its bipartisan national Steering Committee: the AFL-CIO, American Society of Civil Engineers, Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, Building America's Future, Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Value of Water Campaign.
Radhika Fox, executive director of the Value of Water Campaign, says the organization is thrilled to be a part of the steering committee for Infrastructure Week. “Most people know the typical signs that infrastructure is in need of repair: seeing rusty bridges, feeling the potholes they drive over, frustration with over crowded airports or delayed public transit. But with water infrastructure, so much lies beneath our feet and is invisible in our daily lives. Infrastructure Week gives water providers an opportunity to pull the curtain back and invite the public in to see how important investing in our infrastructure, and water infrastructure, is.”
Last year, more than 300 affiliate organizations participated in Infrastructure Week and hosted more than 100 events in Washington, D.C. and across the country. At ports, airports, highway construction sites and water treatment plants, Infrastructure Week affiliates convened stakeholders to talk about the importance of protecting our future by investing in infrastructure.
America's infrastructure problems become more expensive every day. The costs of inaction — lost time, lost productivity and increasingly expensive maintenance and construction — are rising. While Washington debates how to move forward, Americans are footing the bill on their own, to the tune of an additional $9 every day for each American family, according to the Value of Water Campaign.
“Too many Americans are waiting for modern, fast, reliable and safe infrastructure, while our global competitors are modernizing old systems and building new ones. Failing to fix, modernize and build 21st century infrastructure is making our lives and communities more vulnerable, and has profound implications for our long-term economic competitiveness. The future won’t wait. Neither can we. It's time to build,” says Zach Schafer, executive director of Infrastructure Week.
