BY ANTONY CURRIE

Water can still flow around the blockage in U.S. infrastructure. It could cost $1 trillion to fix the nation’s pipes, treatment plants and other water-related systems over the next decade, according to experts at a Columbia Water Center conference hosted in New York on Thursday. That sum isn’t coming any time soon from the federal government, but it doesn’t mean nothing can be done in the meantime.

The vast majority of U.S. water and wastewater utilities are owned by municipalities and other local governments. They’re generally strapped for cash and report to political leaders who tend to be averse to pushing up rates or continually digging up the streets in case it leads to electoral defeat. The shortage of money has no quick fixes. As if to prove that point, President Donald Trump stormed out of a funding meeting with Democrats on Wednesday.

Some municipal-owned utilities capital are finding creative ways around the problem. DC Water in Washington tapped the green-bond market, among other initiatives. New York City has undertaken more than 4,000 green infrastructure projects since 2012’s superstorm Sandy, mostly to deal with excess stormwater. And even some investor-owned utilities struggle to make use of all the data they collect, as Megan Glover, boss of lead-tracking company 120WaterAudit pointed out at the New York summit.

Not all problems require multi-year, expensive projects. One solution is to use what’s available more efficiently. “We have to improve procurement,” Walter Pishkur told the audience at Columbia’s event. The director of water utilities in Arlington, Texas said being aware of various solutions allowed the city to reduce a probable $20 million bill for replacing old sewer pipes to $3 million. He then used the savings to halve the amount of water lost to leaks in the system.

Such smarts might not be able to make up for all the funding needs. But it’s a good start.

First published May 24, 2019

IMAGE: REUTERS/Mike Segar