Water infrastructureU.S. water infrastructure in crisis as a result of lack of investment
Over the past decades, America’s water infrastructure has deteriorated, lacking the much needed investment to secure and ensure the sustainability of a vital natural resource. An analysis of U.S. infrastructure investment shows that spending on capital improvements to U.S. ports, for example, has averaged $10 billion annually over the last ten years. By 2025, that figure will reach $20 billion annually. In contrast, U.S. capital investments in water supply and wastewater treatment was roughly $2 billion annually over the last decade. It is projected to reach just $3 billion annually by 2025. “Our water infrastructure is in a state of crisis that is only exacerbated by the effects of climate change, growing populations and demand. The longer we ignore the problem, the more it costs us,” said Senator Ben Cardin (D-Maryland).
A Congressional Budget Officestudy of infrastructure spending in the United States found that in 2014, the country invested $279 billion to improve and build roads, airports, mass transits, and ports. That same year, the United States spent $109 billion on water supply and sanitation. Over the past decades, America’s water infrastructure has deteriorated, lacking the much needed investment to secure and ensure the sustainability of a vital natural resource.
Further to highlight the disparities in spending on transportation and water infrastructure, one can compare the amount of money spent on improving the nation’s ports with the funds allocated for water and sewage treatment along U.S. coastal areas.
In Savannah, Georgia, where ships have arrived and departed with tons of cargo since the city’s founding in 1733, the state and its Congressional delegation collaborated to direct $758 million over the last decade to expand and modernize the nation’s fourth-largest container port. Port executives say an additional $1.4 billion will be spent over the next decade for capital improvements, including $706 million to deepen the harbor and the Savannah River.
The river, meanwhile, is the dirtiest it has ever been. According to Circle of Blue, lack of investment in water quality infrastructure and lax enforcement of pollution standards has left the state’s third-longest river in a precarious condition.
The latest Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxics Release Inventory finds that only the Ohio River and the New River in West Virginia have more hazardous chemicals being poured into them than the Savannah River.
A 2014 PricewaterhouseCoopersstudy of U.S. infrastructure investment shows that spending on capital improvements to U.S. ports has averaged $10 billion annually over the last ten years. By 2025, that figure will reach $20 billion annually. In contrast, U.S. capital investments in water supply and wastewater treatment was roughly $2 billion annually over the last decade. It is projected to reach just $3 billion annually by 2025.
