Clean Water: An Overdue Investment
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Congress and the president passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) – better known as the stimulus bill – in 2009 to help accelerate the end of the recession by pumping money into "shovel ready" public works – water and wastewater systems, roads, bridges, levees, and other systems.
As they debated the bill, elected officials spun yarn after yarn about working men and women going back to work to fix long overdue problems – and jumpstarting the economy by spreading some of their paychecks around the community at large.
How well did it work? Well that’s a matter of opinion and debate – but there’s no debate that the need is real. When it comes to water and wastewater treatment systems, in particular, there’s no shortage of "shovel ready." There’s no need for "make work."
As the recent massive water main break in Boston indicate, cities and towns have been falling ever further behind on the repairs and upkeep of their water systems. When the federal government put stimulus money on the table for these projects, they snapped it up and clamored for more. Work has already started at more than 1,000 sites across the country.
So how stimulating is all this? Well, it's too early to know for sure, but those who know a lot of public investment expect that this money will support a lot of jobs. For example, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies estimates that each billion dollars invested in water and wastewater systems creates more than 20,000 jobs. These workers spend their paychecks -- and the economic ripple effect that adds $2.87 to $3.46 billion to the economy as a result of that investment.
Imagine how many people would get put back to work if Washington committed itself to truly solving this problem! According to a recent survey conducted by the Environment Council of the States (ECOS), thirty three States have over $56 billion in ready-to-go water and wastewater infrastructure projects awaiting financing. Federal agencies believe that truly addressing the maintenance backlog will cost somebody – rate payers, taxpayers, corporations and their customers – somebody $400 to $600 billion dollars over the next 20 years.
Yes, that's a lot of money – but it would create a lot of jobs and it would address a crucial, glaring public need for safe, clean, healthy water in your home and in local waterways.
So with that massive need and opportunity in mind, the question becomes – is enough of the federal stimulus investment going to water? Is water and wastewater treatment getting the attention it deserves? Here, the answer is "maybe not."
According to a recent study conducted by Urban Land Institute, just 2% of the stimulus money has been invested in water infrastructure. Almost three times as much has been spent on roads and bridges, and almost four times as much has been spent on various energy projects.
There's never enough money to go around, even when Uncle Sam is pumping billions into projects to try to jumpstart the economy. But as the number of broken water mains, beach closures, sewer spills, and other water related problems grows, ask yourself this: Where do clean water and pothole repairs fit into YOUR grand scheme of things?
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