Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
U.S. Water Quality, Infrastructure Poor
Tuesday, October 1, 2002
BY JOHN HEILPRIN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- More than a third of surveyed rivers, and about half of all
lakes and estuaries are too polluted for swimming or fishing, the Environmental
Protection Agency said Monday. It projected a gap of more than $500 billion in
unmet water quality needs over 20 years unless spending on treatment facilities
rises signi- ficantly.
The agency issued two separate reports on water quality that were each based on
2000 data. In one of the reports, a biennial national water quality inventory
that formerly was issued as a report to Congress, the agency said runoff from
farmland, sewage treatment plants and changes in the natural flow of streams and
rivers is fouling the nation's waters.
From 1998 to 2000, the percentage of polluted streams rose from 35 percent, to
39 percent; the percentage of polluted lakes was unchanged at 45 percent; and
the percentage of polluted estuaries increased from 44 percent, to 51 percent.
The second report, a so-called "gap analysis" of water infrastructure needs,
says that an increase in real spending on the nation's network of treatment
plants by 3 percent above the rate of inflation would be required for cities and
towns to keep up with pressing needs.
By 2019, systems could be short $271 billion for wastewater and $263 billion for
drinking water -- money that would be badly needed to replace aging pipes,
maintain existing facilities and build new ones to meet rising demand, the
agency said.
With the 3 percent spending increases, the gaps could be held to $45 billion for
drinking water and $31 billion for wastewater, it said.
Environmentalists said the reports paint a darker picture than that.
"We're not making progress in addressing the remaining sources of water
pollution," said Nancy Stoner, director of Natural Resources Defense Council's
clean water project.
Owners of water and waste treatment plants immediately suggested that the
federal government should pick up the added costs rather than cover them through
higher local water and sewer rates.
"It bolsters the need for Congress to act quickly on this," said Adam Krantz, a
spokesman for the Water Infrastructure Network, a trade group for local elected
officials and drinking water and wastewater administrators. "Without immediate
action, we're looking at a massive environmental and public health problem."
Bush administration officials have said that they opposed a bipartisan House
plan to make billions more available to help states with wastewater projects,
because defense spending must take priority.
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On the Net:
EPA gap report:
http://www.epa.gov/owm/gapreport.pdf
EPA water inventory:
http://www.epa.gov/305b/2000report
WIN: http://www.win-water.org
NRDC: http://www.nrdc.org