EPA released the results of the sixth Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment on March 30. The agency is required under the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments to conduct an assessment of the nation’s public water systems’ infrastructure every four years and report the results to Congress. The report is an assessment of the 2015 survey results and shows that $472.6 billion is needed to maintain and improve the nation’s drinking water infrastructure over the next 20 years. The survey reported a $44 billion increase (in January 2015 dollars) in the total need over the previous assessment completed in 2011. Of particular note, the total need for new infrastructure decreased, from $38.6 billion to $27.2, while the need for rehabilitation/replacement/upgrade of existing infrastructure increased from $291.4 billion to $345.1. Large community water systems, those that serve over 100,000 people, account for $174.4 billion of the total investment need.
The results of the latest Drinking Water Needs Survey will form the basis for the state allocation formula for the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF), and the second chapter of the report provides an in-depth analysis of the infrastructure funding needs by state and by category. The needs assessed and included in the survey are only those eligible for DWSRF. Those ineligible activities, such as dams, reservoirs, and operation and maintenance costs were not included.
“These survey results show just how much investment is needed in drinking water infrastructure,” said AMWA CEO Diane VanDe Hei. “Most water infrastructure projects are funded by utility rate-payers, but programs like EPA’s Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program and tax-exempt financing can help reduce costs and make investments go farther.”
EPA’s assessment shows that investments are primarily needed in four areas:
- Distribution and transmission: $312.6 billion to replace or refurbish aging or deteriorating pipelines
- Treatment: $83 billion to construct, expand or rehabilitate infrastructure to reduce contamination
- Storage: $47.6 billion to construct, rehabilitate or cover water storage reservoirs
- Source water infrastructure: $21.8 billion to construct or rehabilitate intake structures, wells and spring collectors