Five US Cities on Water Infrastructure Crisis Edge and ASCE Solutions

On August 29, 2022, Mississippi’s largest water treatment plant in Jackson failed, creating a catastrophic water crisis in the state’s capital.

The city’s 180,000 residents were left without water, leading to the emergency distribution of bottled water.

The city linked the failure to complications from the flooding of the Pearl River, but experts blamed this not on a natural disaster but on generations of neglect.

Jackson’s residents have endured water disruptions and water boil notices for years, and the heavy rainfall and floods have exacerbated the issues at its water treatment plant.

CNN reports that what happened in the city is a bellwether for what is to come to other American urban areas if it continues to delay addressing the issues of its crumbling and aging infrastructure. As extreme events increase in frequency and severity due to climate change, it raises the vulnerability and susceptibility of these aging infrastructures to fail.

Most of the water infrastructure in the US has been built in the last century and has a life service expectancy of roughly 75 years. The increasing number of droughts, intense heat, and flooding are putting more strain on these infrastructures.

In its 2021 and latest report card, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave a C- minus grade, a mediocre rating for its drinking water infrastructure. It requires attention and has increased vulnerability to risk.

According to the 2021 ASCE report, the country has 2.2 million miles of underground drinking water pipes, and 6 billion gallons, equivalent to 9000 swimming pools, are lost daily to leaks and breaks. More than 12,000 miles of pipes are planned to be replaced by 2020. In 2019, a third of all utilities had a robust asset management program to help prioritize their capital and operations/maintenance investments, an increase from 20% in 2016.

The CNN article notes that these two significant pieces of infrastructure legislation passed under President Biden’s administration, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed in 2021 that includes $30 billion to fix the country’s drinking water and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which will appropriate $550 million to address domestic drinking water infrastructure problems, are not enough to make up decades of disinvestments. Experts estimated that the cost exceeds $1 trillion. The combined federal funding from these two legislations is just a few percent of the total needs, Erik Olson, the senior strategic director for health and food with the Natural Resources Defense Council, says.

The article identified five cities in the US that could be the next Jackson City or just one natural disaster away from a catastrophic water crisis to understand better their vulnerability in the face of the ever-increasing and intensifying extreme events.

1. Buffalo, New York. The December 2022 storm dumped 50 inches of snow, leaving the city without power, closed off roads, and killed 46 people. High winds from the storm have also caused coastal floods from Lake Erie. The combination of the blizzard and floods has threatened to knock out power to Buffalo’s water treatment plant, also located along the Lake. Still, the plant’s multiple power backup sources have fended off what could have been a “nightmare scenario” for the city. The city’s experience of the combined onslaught of extreme weather events from snow, floods, and high winds has highlighted the need to build and invest in infrastructure and system resilience.
   
   
2. Prichard, Alabama. The city’s dwindling population affected infrastructure investment. From leaking pipes- 56% of the water from its reservoir is wasted through leaking and aging pipes, hurricanes that bring floods and lead to sewage overflows, and decades of divestment in its critical infrastructure fueled by racial discrimination are the multitude of problems faced by the predominantly Black and low-income residents of the city.
   
   
3. St. Louis, Missouri. Like Prichard, the city’s population is also in decline. Residents face the constant threat of lead contamination in their drinking water. Some of the lead pipes that distribute drinking water to the residents remained, and although the city wanted to replace them, they didn’t know exactly where they were located. Complicating the problem are the more intense flooding and storms that can damage these aging lead pipes and weaken water systems.
   
4. Central Coast, California. Dramatic shifts in droughts and heavy rains impact the area’s water table. During droughts, the overpumping of underground water causes groundwater levels to drop and seawater seep in. Salty water corrodes pipes when it comes into contact with it. Heavy rains, floods, and storm surges can push water far inland. The frequency and increasing intensity of extreme events highlight the need for the area to manage its water supplies proactively.
   
   
5. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Puerto Rio’s water infrastructure is highly dependent on its electric grid for operation. When hurricanes come and knock out their power supply, it means that their residents are left without running water. Estimates show that 60% of its water mains are over 50 years old and are prone to leaking and breaking. A 2017 report also finds that nearly all Puerto Rico residents drink water from systems that violate the Safe Drinking Water Act, and 70% of its people get water from sources that violate the policy’s health standards.

Improving the US’s drinking water infrastructure

The ASCE 2021 report lists solutions to raise the grade of its drinking water infrastructure. Among them are increasing appropriations or funding to address the problem, implementing asset management programs and techniques to evaluate asset condition and risk, and prioritizing capital, operations, and management decisions. States should also provide funding, training, and technical assistance for asset management programs.

Sources:

Ramirez, R. & Levenson, E. (2023, September 2). These five cities could be one natural disaster away from a catastrophic water crisis. CNN. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/02/us/water-infrastructure-failure-us-cities-climate/index.html

Drinking Water. 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/02/us/water-infrastructure-failure-us-cities-climate/index.html