U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Senator Harry Reid (D-Nev.), and Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) have introduced a bill, S. 741, The Water Infrastructure Resiliency and Sustainability Act.
The bill hopes to help local communities meet the challenges of upgrading water infrastructure systems to meet the current hydrological changes. It directs the U.S. EPA to establish a corresponding program, awarding grants to eligible water systems.
Senator Ben Cardin notes that America’s water infrastructure is “in a state of crisis” that is made worse by ever-growing climate change while Senator Harry Reid comments from Nevada’s experience of drought and hopes that this new bill will help suffering states to maximize the use of water that they still have.
Maryland’s Real Estate Rama reports:
“A healthy water infrastructure system is as important to America’s economy as paved roads and sturdy bridges. Water and wastewater investment has been shown to spur economic growth. The U.S. Conference of Mayors has found that for every dollar invested in water infrastructure, the Gross Domestic Product is increased to more than $6. The Department of Commerce has found that that same dollar yields close to $3 worth of economic output in other industries. Every job created in local water and sewer industries creates close to four jobs elsewhere in the national economy.”
This bill, with the cooperation of the EPA, will certainly help municipalities to finance the upgrades they require.
Inframanage.com notes that the US debate about the funding of transportation and water utility infrastructure, and proposed solutions have been ongoing at a political level for both Federal and State government for some time now.
Naturally, in a political environment, different political parties have been proposing different funding solutions.
Funding for infrastructure is one side of the discussion, with projected infrastructure expenditure being the other side.
Without good infrastructure management planning and analysis, it is very easy for the expenditure requests to become the capital project ‘wishlists’ with little consideration of the long-term costs, or sustainability of service levels.
Similarly, without good infrastructure asset management planning and analysis how can state and federal funding organizations know that they are funding the right solution, at the right time, and at the right service levels.
There is no dispute that well-considered infrastructure investment boosts economic output and development.
The key is making sure that infrastructure investment is in fact ‘well-considered’ and made in the right place, at the right scale, and at the right time.
[…] Federal and State authorities move to assist with the funding of infrastructure the use of water utility infrastructure management plans can also assist with the prioritization and allocation of scarce funding […]