WIN's
NewsWatch
- Editorials and Articles
As
Need for Infrastructure Grows, Costs Rise Clean,
Safe Water Acts Don't Include Required
Funds
(09/17/2001)
City's
Sewer Problems Can't Be Delayed Longer
(10/1/2001)
Water,
Fresh From The Tap (9/24/01)
Nation's
Water, Sewer Lines Need Work; Urge Young To Back
Funds (8/25/01)
Lowell
Needs Federal Aid For Vital Water
Upgrade
(8/22/01)
Federal
Funding May be Tempered for Sewer, Water Projects
(9/18/01)
Panel
to Hear from Maryland Expert about Growth,
Environment (9/17/01)
A
$1 Trillion Water Bill Municipal Systems Will
Require State, Federal Help
(4/11/01)
As
Need for Infrastructure Grows, Costs Rise Clean,
Safe Water Acts Don't Include Required
Funds
Providence Business News
09/17/2001
As the infrastructure that supports the state's
water and sewer systems deteriorates, the cost of
repairing it rises. Much of the infrastructure was
installed almost a century ago.
And while state and federal agencies continue to
put in place regulations to raise the standards of
water and sewer treatment facilities, they have
been slow to increase funds for projects now
required by law. The result is, nationwide, an
estimated $23 billion financial gap per year for
the next 20 years if we bring these
infrastructures, located beneath city streets, to
full compliance.
Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay Commission (NBC),
which owns and operates two of the largest
wastewater treatment plants in the state, knows
first hand about the issues. In May of this year,
NBC broke ground on its sewer overflow project -
the construction of a 16,000-foot long tunnel that
will stretch from Fields Point in Providence to the
Foundry Building. Created in response to a federal
mandate, the project, which is expected to take
close to two decades to complete, comes with a $550
million price tag. So far, the organization has
only obtained $1 million in federal funding -
leaving a $449 million gap.
"The federal requirements are getting more
stringent and basically everything is coming home
to roost," said Paul Pinault, executive director of
the NBC. "The thing that we are trying to impress
is that you can't look at the sewer system with
blinders, you have to look at the big picture -
libraries, bridges, roads, and sewer systems - the
bottom line is it all comes out of the same
pockets. I think that what we have tried to impress
is that you can't make all of these requirements
and then say you have to figure it out on your own.
You have to be realistic that this isn't the only
problem that the community has."
According to the Water
Infrastructure Network, over the next 20
years American's water and wastewater systems will
have to invest $23 billion a year more to meet the
standards set by the Clean Water Act and the Safe
Drinking Water Act.
"New solutions are needed to what amounts to nearly
a trillion dollars in critical water and wastewater
investments over the next two decades," it said in
a recent report released by the
Water Infrastructure
Network, based in Washington D.C. "Not
meeting the investment needs of the next 20 years
risks reversing public health, environmental, and
economic gains of the last three decades."
"It's easy to forget that beneath our streets,
sidewalks and lawn lies an infrastructure system
that is just as important as the one that supports
our cars as we go about our daily work routines,"
Pinault wrote in a letter to Providence Business
News. "The pipes that brings us safe, disease-free
drinking water and that carry the waste away from
our homes and businesses is as heavily used as out
transportation infrastructure system. But while our
federal taxes have long paid for improvements to
our roadways, Washington has been sending fewer
dollars every year to pay for the drinking water
pipes and sewage treatment plants that protect
public health and the environment."
According to Jamie Samons, public affairs director
for the NBC, the $449 million gap in the state's
combined sewer overflow project will most likely
come from the pockets of users - who now pay one of
the lowest rates in the state.
"That gap puts a lot of pressure on our users," she
said. "If you look at the latest census figures our
users that fall into the low income, and elderly
populations are growing. These are people with
fixed incomes and if we raise our rates they will
be affected."
The problem has been exacerbated, Pinault said, by
the phase out of a federally funded program in the
mid-1980s which gave grants covering 90 percent of
project costs to organizations like the NBC.
"When we lost that it had a big impact on the
pocketbooks and budgets of the people that are
responsible for the maintenance of sewer systems,"
he said. "It was replaced with a loan program that
charges interest. And while it's a small amount of
interest, it's still there and we have to pay it
back."
Last November, the NBC received a boost when voters
approved a bond issue that gave the NBC $70 million
in a no-interest loan. But according to Pinault,
the program is just getting started and it's
unclear when the funding will be available.
In addition, Pinault said the state's congressional
delegation has proposed $4 million in funding for
the project in this year's Senate Appropriations
Bill. The bill, already approved in the Senate,
still needs to get full House approval.
And while Pinault said the NBC's combined sewer
overflow project is one example of the growing gap
between regulations and funding, he said, it's
important to remember it's a part of a larger
national problem.
"This is a huge problem," he said. "It affects our
system and many others. It's similar to the theory
'out of sight out of mind.' Historically, what
people have done is deferred the maintenance of
these pipes because they would rather put the time
and effort into things that you can see like roads
and schools. The result is now being felt."
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City's
Sewer Problems Can't Be Delayed Longer
The Atlanta Journal and Constitution
October 1, 2001
If he or she is smart, the next mayor of Atlanta
won't wait until January to take up the explosive
matter of the court-ordered cleanup of the city's
sewer system.
Time is so tight and the territory so rugged
that the mayor-elect ought to go to work the day
after the election. The current administration is
leaving behind a veritable minefield of unfinished
business, and the candidates' own promises aren't
going to make things any easier. Under one of the
toughest cleanup orders in the country, the city
this spring complied with a deadline to propose its
solution to a decades-old problem of human waste
overflows during rainstorms. The problem is with
the remaining combined sewers, which still lie
under about 15 percent of the city's territory,
mostly downtown and in adjoining areas.
State and federal environmental agencies have
approved the city's $1 billion plan to build a
system of huge tunnels that would collect both
stormwater and sewer overflows and deliver it all
to a new treatment plant. They believe it's the
city's best chance to meet the 2007 compliance date
in the court order.
Meeting the deadline to submit the cleanup
proposal was an important step toward restoring the
city's battered credibility with the court and
regulators. However, it came at the cost of
enraging resident-activists who oppose tunnels and
want the stormwater and sewage pipes completely
separated. And the city has since undermined its
progress with regulators.
The EPA last month sent a sharply worded letter
criticizing the city's exaggerated cost estimates.
From the regulators' standpoint, it appeared that
the city was trying to show a larger-than-necessary
impact on ratepayers in order to make a case for
further delay. Meanwhile, the city has racked up
potential fines of $53 million, mostly for failing
to report more than 100 illegal discharges; the
penalties could be substantially reduced through
negotiations, however.
Whether or not officials inflated the cost
estimates, the city is going to have find a way to
raise upwards of $3 billion over the next 10 to 15
years to fix aging sewers and expand water and
sewer capacity for new growth. That can't all be
borne by water customers in a city that also bears
the brunt of the region's poverty. Yet the current
administration has done next to nothing to pursue
low-interest loans and grants under existing state
and federal programs, nor to lay the groundwork for
more creative funding approaches.
Enter the top three mayoral candidates. All have
intimated that they will try to appease the
activists by pushing for the time and flexibility
to pursue complete sewer separation. But they must
understand that they inherit zero credibility with
a federal judge and regulators who have every
reason to be skeptical. It is unlikely they will
accept significant delays. Meanwhile, interim
deadlines and stiffer penalties continue to bear
down on the city.
Whoever wins the November election, then, will
need a plan of action on several fronts. The new
mayor first must propose an acceptable technical
solution, if other than the current proposal. He or
she must devise a plan to pay for needed
infrastructure improvements and sell it to the
public and regulators.
Vague promises and pleas for more time will make
absolutely no headway with the court and
environmental agencies. They've heard it all
before.
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Water,
Fresh From The Tap (9/24/01)
Our
Nation's Water and Sewer Systems Need Nearly $1
Trillion Over the Next 20 Years
Casper
Star-Tribune 9/24/01
As
we ease into fall, we need to remember that this
summer has been one of the hottest and driest on
record here in Wyoming. Health reports constantly
remind us how important it is to drink lots of
water during warm weather. During these dog days of
summer, a tall glass of water sounds so refreshing.
We take for granted how easy it is to turn on the
faucet, fill our glass, add a couple of ice cubes,
sit down and relax.
What
if we weren't able to do such a simple, mundane
task like drink a glass of water fresh from the
tap? What if we were to turn on the faucet to find
that there was a mere dribble, or the quality was
less than pleasing? Unfortunately, for many
communities, that day may soon come.
Our
country's 54,000 drinking water systems and 16,000
wastewater systems face staggering infrastructure
funding needs of nearly $1 trillion over the next
20 years.
Engineering
studies show that the average useful life of water
and sewer lines is 75 years. This means that
communities need to replace about 1.5 percent of
their water and sewer lines per year just to keep
up with aging and deterioration. In a community of,
say 10,000, that amounts to 1 to 2 miles of water
and sewer line replacement annually.
These
systems collectively, face an unprecedented funding
gap of $23 billion a ear between current
investments to infrastructure and the investments
that will be necessary over the next 20 years to
replace aging and failing pipes an keep our water
clean. In addition, new and coming water quality
regulations demand newer, better and more expensive
treatment techniques with attendant better
training, education, and certification for the
operators of those systems.
Without
sufficient infrastructure to keep wastewater in the
pipes below and drinking water clean, our health
could be threatened. It seems that local solutions,
like increased water and wastewater rates should be
enough to solve the problem. Unfortunately, they
only address a portion of the problem. Financing
the full$23 billion funding gap with utility rate
increases would result in doubling or tripling of
water rates across the nation. In some communities,
that factor is much higher. If this were to happen,
at least a third of the U. S. population would have
to pay more than 4 percent of their household
income for water and sewer.
Small,
rural and low income communities would be hit the
hardest, since costs are high in smaller
systems.
What
can we as citizens do? Contact Rep. Barbara Cubin
today and tell her that funding for water
infrastructure improvements needs to be a priority.
By maintaining the infrastructure we presently
have, millions of dollars can be saved in the long
run. Then, tell her to go pour a nice glass of
clean water from the tap - while she still
can.
This
critical issue already has bipartisan support in
Congress. Representatives Michael Billrakis (R-FL),
Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and
Robert Borski (D-PA) established the House Water
Infrastructure caucus (WIC), an internal House
organization dedicated to developing and passing
legislation to meet the nation's water
infrastructure challenge. Over 80 house members
have joined the caucus to date.
To
find out more about this crisis, log onto:
(http://www.win-water.org). WIN
stands for the Water
Infrastructure Network,
which comprises 38 national organizations,
representing water agencies, mayors, counties,
engineers, public works officials, and
environmentalists working together to solve the
nation's coming infrastructure-funding
crisis.
FORUM
Article by Bruce Florquist
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Nation's
Water, Sewer Lines Need Work; Urge Young To Back
Funds
Anchorage Daily News 8/25/01
Our state and the federal government leverage
more than $80 million annually to improve running
water and sewer systems for rural Alaskans, but
this is jus the edge of the ice floe. The whopping
price tag for piping and infrastructure and
utilities that treat and deliver the nation's water
is an annual $23 billion for the next twenty years,
according to the Water
Infrastructure
Network, a coalition
that includes my professional society, the Water
Environment Federation.
In anchorage, where rate
payers currently cover about 90 percent of the cost
to build operate, and maintain public water and
sewer systems, a major investment in new water
pipeline infrastructure is badly needed. Projected
costs for this and related projects could total
more than $200 million just in the next six years.
WIN
is calling for federal
attention and funding to help communities by
subsidizing some 50 percent of the rising cost of
clean water.
You can write Alaska Rep.
Don Young, chairman of the House Transportation and
Infrastructure Committee to call for his support in
developing legislation to require this critical
federal funding. And you can visit
www.win-water.org to find out more.
Its not too late to
protect the country's water quality, but we must
invest now.
Micahel Pollen,
President
Northern Testing Laboratories, Inc. Fairbanks
Past President Water Environment
Federation
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Lowell
Needs Federal Aid For Vital Water
Upgrade
Lowell Sun
8/22/01
The time has come to address an issue of
national significance and of critical local
magnitude -- the alarming rate of deterioration of
our pipes and plants that convey and treat our
water and wastewater. It is my hope that the press,
which has been noticeably silent on the enormous
costs associated with the repair and replacement of
our water infrastructure, will take notice now. The
issue is in full swing, with federal and local
officials planning to meet the daunting challenge
by initiating a comprehensive plan to ensure what
we take for granted everyday -- safe drinking water
that protects public health and treated wastewater
that protects our environment.
Recent national statistics estimate that there
is a $23 billion funding gap per year for each of
the next 20 years that must be bridged to pay for
upgrades necessary to ensure that the nation's
drinking water and wastewater pipes and treatment
facilities can continue providing safe, clean and
affordable water to the nation.
The breadth of the national problem, however,
should not blur the fact that this is an issue of
the highest priority at the local, municipal and
state levels. As executive director of the Lowell
Regional Wastewater Utility which serves 180,000
people, it has become increasingly clear to me that
an increase in federal funding to upgrade our
ailing infrastructure is the only viable
solution.
In Lowell, we have 230 miles of pipe, much of
which is over 150 years old. Its useful life is
coming to an end. Almost half of the flow to the
utility is due to inflow and infiltration from
ground water that enters sewer pipes through leaks
and cracks. While our agency has done tremendous
work in serving its population, we cannot ignore
the financial realities forced upon us by decaying
infrastructure, a growing customer base, the
effects of sprawl that further pressure our
wastewater system, and an increasing number of
federal regulations with high compliance costs. The
cost to comply with EPA's CSO (Combined Sewer
Overflow) regulation could cost Lowell in excess of
$200 million dollars, all without federal help. In
short, the importance of federal involvement cannot
be overstated.
For the ratepayers and citizens of Lowell it is
easy to forget that beneath our streets, sidewalks
and lawns lies an infrastructure system that is
just as important as the one that supports our cars
as we go about our daily work routines. The pipes
that bring us safe, disease-free drinking water and
that carry waste away from our homes and businesses
is as heavily used as our transportation
infrastructure system. But while our federal taxes
have long paid for improvements to our roadways,
Washington has been sending fewer dollars every
year to pay for the drinking water pipes and sewage
treatment plants that protect public health and the
environment.
The encouraging news is that a growing number of
U.S. senators and representatives are now calling
for the federal government to reinvest in our
precious water infrastructure systems. Lowell needs
its representatives in Congress to be vocal and
helpful in advancing the cause of water
infrastructure funding. We heartily endorse their
effort because we know how important these systems
are to our community and how costly the repairs and
upgrades will be to our ratepayers without a
renewed federal commitment.
We hope that The Sun and other interested
parties start giving water infrastructure the
attention it deserves. Just because our water pipes
and treatment plants are largely out of sight does
not mean they can remain out of mind. It is time
for us to understand and appreciate the fundamental
value of clean and safe water.
MARK A. YOUNG
Executive Director
Lowell Regional Wastewater Utility
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Federal
Funding May be Tempered for Sewer, Water
Projects
Associated Press Newswires
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
DETROIT (AP) - Regional planners, elected
officials and business representatives want the
federal government to help cover the $26-billion
cost of sewer and water infrastructure
improvements.
But the price of responding to terrorist attacks
last week on New York City and Washington, D.C.,
may mean priorities will shift despite support for
increased funding from Michigan's congressional
delegation.
"A lot of questions in the budget won't be of
significant concern now," U.S. Rep. John Dingell,
D-Dearborn, told the Detroit Free Press for a
Tuesday story. "What we're going to be dealing with
are issues of national security."
But water quality is a priority that can't be
ignored, said U.S. District Judge John Feikens. The
area's chief enforcer of the federal Clean Water
Act told businesses and elected leaders in the
region Monday that they don't have much more time
to fix infrastructure.
"My deepest concern is that right now in the
aftereffect of last Tuesday that people will say
'Let's forget about that for a while,"' he said.
"But we can't do that with water quality."
In other states, federal judges have ordered a
moratorium on building until municipalities can
deal with water-quality issues. Feikens hasn't done
that yet, but has told the consortium that he
expects less talk and more action.
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Panel
to Hear from Maryland Expert about Growth,
Environment
Associated Press Newswires
Monday, September 17, 2001
DETROIT (AP) - A new panel on water quality will
hear from an expert from Maryland, a state that
takes a different approach than most to growth and
environmental issues.
John W. Frece, chief spokesman for Maryland's
Smart Growth Initiative, was scheduled to speak
Monday to the Southeast Michigan Consortium for
Water Quality about efforts to rein in suburban
development.
The meeting will be the third for the
water-quality consortium, formed at the urging of
U.S. District Judge John Feikens, who has presided
over a number of cases involving water quality and
pollution. Its aim is to push for adequate funding
for water infrastructure and to address the affects
of continued development on water quality.
Chuck Hersey, a spokesman for the Southeast
Michigan Council of Governments, said the panel was
also expected to consider a resolution calling for
Congress to restore federal funding for
improvements to local sewer and water systems.
The budget proposed by President Bush would have
cut that funding about 30 percent from last year's
$1.35 billion, Hersey told The Detroit News for a
Monday story. Each house of Congress subsequently
voted to restore at least part of the money.
Estimates on the cost of making necessary
improvements in southeast Michigan's water systems,
which are being taxed by suburban sprawl, are in
the billions of dollars.
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A
$1 Trillion Water Bill Municipal Systems Will
Require State, Federal Help
The
Harrisburg Patriot
Wednesday, April 11, 2001
The late
Illinois Sen. Everett Dirksen famously said many
years ago, "a billion here, a billion there. Pretty
soon it adds up to real money."
More and more
these days, however, government seems to talks in
terms of trillions, rather than billions. Consider
President Bush's $1.96 trillion federal budget, his
proposed $1.6 trillion tax cut, the $5.6 trillion
national debt, and the $3.2 trillion projected
surplus, give or take a few hundred
billion.
Here is
another trillion to keep in mind: $1 trillion to
address the needs of the nation's 54,000
drinking-water systems and 16,000 wastewater
systems over the next 20 years. That figure comes
from the Water Infrastructure Network, a coalition
of 29 organizations representing local government
officials, municipal professionals, engineers,
environmentalists and labor unions.
The problem
is that major segments of the existing water and
sewer infrastructure are 50 years to more than 100
years old and deteriorating. And as the current
controversy surrounding the government's allowable
limit for arsenic in drinking water suggests,
improving the quality of municipal water also adds
significant costs.
Local
ratepayers provide some $60 billion annually to
their local water and sewer districts. That's a lot
of money, as those who have seen substantially
higher water bills in recent years can well attest
-- among them Harrisburg users.
However, the
scope of the needed repairs, more costly but
important federal mandates likely to come, such as
reduced arsenic content, and the decline in federal
dollars toward improved water quality, indicate
that local entities are likely to be able to
generate only about half of the funds needed for
infrastructure fixes. Cities are already lobbying
Congress to provide much of the rest.
Clean, fresh
water is never so precious as when it is in short
supply. With a growing population and increasing
water use by industry and society, ensuring
more-than-ample supplies of quality water is
something no community can take for granted. But
neither should the state and federal governments,
which are going to have to put clean and adequate
water supplies on their radar screens.
Otherwise, the
problems with water quality and quantity are bound
to get a lot worse and make $1 trillion seem like a
bargain.
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