Another Voice / Municipal water
Aging infrastructure demands significant investment
Updated: 08/11/08 7:11 AM
Would you buy a new car and then decide not to spend any money to maintain it? Let’s ask the same question about our clean water infrastructure, because it’s old and in need of major upgrades.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation released a startling report in March: “Wastewater Infrastructure Needs of New York State.” The report details the need for $36.2 billion in spending over the next 20 years. In a separate 2003 report, the Environmental Protection Agency documented drinking water infrastructure needs at $14.8 billion over 20 years.
Several factors are causing the cost of infrastructure spending to increase. Many facilities “are past their expected useful lives,” and new federal and state standards mandate enhanced and evermore complex treatment systems. There are then the programs to address the growing problem of storm water pollution, combined sewer overflows (Buffalo has them) and sanitary sewer overflows (the suburbs have these).
For clean water, the age of the pipes — some are more than 100 years old — and increased federal regulation also translate into dramatic cost demands. Adding to the problem is what the DEC calls “the systematic disinvestment in wastewater infrastructure.”
Increasing mandates and decreasing investment have created a crisis. We can quarrel with the figures from the EPA or the DEC, but any way you slice it, these costs are huge.
The American Society of Civil Engineers in 2005 rated the nation’s wastewater infrastructure a D-minus. According to the DEC, 6,600 miles out of a total 22,000 miles of sewer lines are more than 60 years old. The report further states that 23 percent of the state’s wastewater treatment plant equipment is more than 30 years old.
It should come as no surprise to learn that when infrastructure is operating beyond its design life, the receiving water’s “quality declines.” This should be a huge cause for alarm. Nationally, clean water supports “$300 billion in coastal tourism and $45 billion in commercial fishing.” Manufacturing industries rely on clean water, as do recreational water sports.
Let us look closely at combined sewer overflows. These are systems designed to carry both storm and sanitary sewage in one pipe. They can overflow to a water body when heavy rains occur. New York has 10 percent of the nation’s combined sewer overflows. In 1994, the EPA adopted a policy requiring states to address and fund efforts to remediate these overflows. But no funding was provided, just the mandate.
In fact, since 2000, federal funding of the state revolving fund fell to its lowest level ever — from $1.5 billion to less than $400 million today. State funding fell just as dramatically.
We can have clean water — it takes technology and money. And it is time to have a public discussion about where and how to leverage the funding.
Daniel Bentivogli is an environmental consultant with CRA Infrastructure and Engineering in Buffalo.
