Rhetoric vs Reality - Water Funding in the US

The water sector is vital. In the US alone, water employs 1.7 million people directly, and the life of every American is dependent on their work. Despite its core role in society, the investment gap for water is growing and is projected to hit $434 billion by 2029. This year the nation’s water infrastructure received a grade of C-, wastewater infrastructure a D+ and stormwater a D. There is a clear mismatch between the importance of water, and the attention it receives in national policymaking.

To this administration’s credit, they have elevated water in the national conversation. President Biden has been talking about lead pipe replacement with encouraging regularity, and Vice President Harris has helped highlight vital but unsexy infrastructure.

Unfortunately the numbers haven’t caught up to their rhetoric.

President Biden’s infrastructure plan (if it gets through) clocks in at $2 trillion dollars over ten years. However only 5% of that spending is dedicated to water ($111 billion), divided between the following:

$56 billion to upgrade infrastructure (water, wastewater, stormwater) through existing loan and grant plans.

• In 2016 Federal spending on water was $19 billion, and State and Local spending was $39 billion. It’s not clear where loan and grant plans are accounted for, so it could be as little as a 10% annual increase, assuming 100% of the commitment is additional to previous budgets (which is at best unclear).

$45 billion to replace 100% of the nation’s lead service lines

• In line with what is likely to be required but with significant questions left to answer including how much will fall on homeowners whose lines are on private property.

$10 billion for PFAS monitoring and remediation

• Given that the bill for remediation in Minnesota alone could come in at $1.2 billion, this seems... low.

The relative size of water’s share is telling. This is the biggest federal investment the US has seen in water in years. But when we compare the $111 billion to the $621 billion for transportation infrastructure, or the $180 billion for R&D - which has another $250 billion coming through the upcoming industrial policy bill - it is far less than it should be. 

The $35 billion Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 is no triumph either. It mainly reauthorized prior programs (State Revolving Funds) with slight expansions, and makes risible lead removal grants ($60 million per year for something poisoning children daily) just slightly less risible ($100 million per year). Additionally, the 89-2 Senate vote count makes you wonder the extent to which this Act has been marked as a useful excuse to negotiate down (or block) the main bill. In this environment, nothing is that bipartisan, not even competitiveness with China.

Even fixing the damage wrought by COVID has been lacklustre. US households are $8 billion behind on their water bills, their most essential utility. The response of the federal government in December? $638m in deeply unspecific debt relief. Sen. Merkley’s recent proposed debt relief bill specifies $10bn in loans to water utilities whose customers are in shortfall. It’s not clear where the utilities are going to find the extra revenue to repay those loans - other than increasing customer water rates, or through government grants. Which…. yeah. 

The problem isn’t going away, and is only going to get worse without concerted effort, and especially adequate funding. The interconnections between water and climate change are still sorely misunderstood and under-represented in federal policymaking. In March, millions of people across Texas and in Jackson, Mississippi faced water outages during and after the Arctic Blast. Lake Oroville, CA is at less than 37% of where it should be at this time of year, on its way to its lowest level ever. And it’s not just climate - it’s race too. The sanitation conditions in Lowndes County, Alabama are not remotely acceptable, and neither is the lack of access to clean water experienced by 1 million predominantly non-white people in California. In 2021. Are we really sure water is 5% of our infrastructure problems?.

There is a quote about budgeting, which goes “Don't tell me what you value - show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.” You know who said that? Joe Biden.