On Addressing Water Supply Infrastructure Challenges

"Gridlock on the highways, stretched-thin mass transit systems and out-of-date schools always lead lists of the nation’s infrastructure challenges.

"But there's another pressing infrastructure challenge that doesn't always get the attention of transportation and education: water quality. A steady drip, drip, drip of stories about water safety has demonstrated the extent of the problem, which experts believe will require communities and states across the country to come up with hundreds of billions of dollars to fix.

"Money is not the only barrier to fixing water systems. A highly fragmented patchwork of governance is another, with more than 50,000 local public and private operators providing services. That is one reason why 'creating modern water systems for safe and sustainable use' was one of 12 'Grand Challenges in Public Administration' identified by the National Academy of Public Administration in a recent report."

A recent article in Route Fifty reported on some of the challenges in maintaining water infrastructure. The report concluded with the observation that "investments in water quality often are not readily observable to the public, not grabbing attention like upgrades in transportation systems or educational facilities. And people and political leaders, they say, don't pay much attention to the quality of their water unless a crisis occurs. Improvements come down to a choice between people's pocketbooks and their health, and too often the easy out is to not pay much attention until a real crisis develops."

To access the complete report, please visit:

Route Fifty: The Water Safety Conundrum (30 DEC 19)