In many industries, even temporary disruptions in water service can have major impacts, often causing production to grind to a complete halt. In fact, this is already occurring – water service disruptions resulted in a $51 billion economic loss for just 11 water-reliant industries (healthcare, construction, manufacturing, retail, education and more) in 2019.
High profile crises in Jackson, Mississippi and Flint, Michigan have shown the serious consequences of underinvestment in water infrastructure, and these cities aren’t alone. In the summer of 2022, more than 130,000 people and businesses in metro-Detroit were placed under a boil water advisory for three weeks because of a water main break. About a week later, the same thing happened in Jacksonville, Florida, affecting 19,000 people and businesses. Also in 2022, a 140-year-old water main snapped in Newark, New Jersey, causing not only a boil water advisory for businesses in the city but also a sinkhole that swallowed a car. In 2021, more than half of Texas went without water after a winter storm passed through the state, and almost 1.5 million people and businesses were still without water a week later.
The Infrastructure Investments and Jobs Act (IIJA) invested $55 billion in our nation’s water infrastructure, the largest single investment in history. However, this investment is not enough to bring our nation’s water systems into a state of good repair – the American Water Works Association estimates that restoring existing water systems and expanding them to serve a growing population will cost at least $1 trillion over the next 25 years, and this does not take into account emerging challenges like increasing drought in the west; floods in the East, Midwest and South; and new contaminants like PFAS.
Further, Congress is not even close to funding water infrastructure programs at their fully authorized levels. Roughly $20 billion in investments in water infrastructure were authorized but not appropriated in IIJA alone.
This funding shortfall is putting water utilities, as well as the companies and communities they serve, in a bind. In fact, only about 17% of utilities are confident that they can adequately maintain their systems, let alone upgrade them to prepare for emerging risks, without increased outside investment.
On the other hand, adequate investment in water infrastructure would cause U.S. GDP to grow by $4.5 trillion over 20 years and create 800,000 new jobs.
The business community must engage in the fight for increased federal investment in water infrastructure. Engagement is a win-win proposition: the water sector will benefit from a strong business voice highlighting the economic opportunities, and businesses will be supported with the certainty that they can rely on their local water infrastructure.
