Like many other US states, Oregon is beset with many infrastructure problems, including water quality, safe drinking water, and wastewater treatment.
The cost of meeting the need for quality water, safe drinking water, and wastewater treatment is rising and outpaces the state’s local budgets. Meeting the infrastructure cost entails raising water and sewer rates, directly hitting residents’ pockets.
Because water infrastructure is often hidden, the out of sight, out of mind proverb applies until disruption occurs, reminding citizens and government that these infrastructures are crucial for the public’s health and the environment.
The League of Oregon Cities (LOC) 2021 survey reveals the state’s water-related infrastructure challenges and the costs of fixing them.
The survey findings show that “The 100 cities that responded to the survey (out of 241 cities in Oregon) identified $9.7 billion in water infrastructure needs, including water quality-related needs, and drinking water/water supply needs. With this data, PSU estimates approximately $23 billion in state-wide water infrastructure costs in the next 20 years.”
The costs of infrastructure will continue to rise, the survey notes. The American Water Works Association projects that the cost of addressing aging drinking water infrastructure will exceed US$1 trillion in the next 25 years making, tripling the cost of household water bills.
The economic shutdowns caused by the pandemic only worsened the effects of rising rates among residents, increasing the number of delinquent water and sewer accounts, especially in low-income communities.
Although these affordability challenges are not new, it highlights the need for additional financial assistance to help struggling communities pay their bills while ensuring that utilities continue to deliver critical services.
The finding from the survey is clear, many Oregonian communities with smaller populations and lower-income populations cannot afford to pay for their water infrastructure costs and expecting them to fund them through local fees and rates is unrealistic.
Addressing the problem will require significant funding from the state and federal governments. Read the LOC 2021 survey.
To help Oregon pay for its water infrastructure needs, the EPA grants $32 million to the state’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure improvements.
EPA’s news release, “EPA grants $32 million to Oregon for drinking water, wastewater infrastructure improvements,” says that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)/Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will provide an additional $92 million to go into Oregon’s two State Revolving Fund programs in 2022.
It provides a breakdown of infrastructure projects funded by the EPA grant and the IIJA across Oregon communities focusing on improving the quality of drinking water and wastewater.
Policymakers and residents must understand the rising costs of infrastructure affecting the affordability of local communities.
Across the state, communities cannot afford to pay for their failing and deficient infrastructure.
Local fees and rates alone could not support the cost of maintaining and operating infrastructure.
The IIJA provides a timely and crucial infusion of funding to communities struggling to pay for their infrastructure costs and needs.
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