American Society of Civil Engineers’ Infrastructure Report Card
This week, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its “2013 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure.” The 2013 edition of the report card gives grades of “D” (or poor) to both water and wastewater infrastructure. This is slightly below the overall infrastructure rating of D+. For drinking water, ASCE highlights the massive needs as identified by both EPA and AWWA. They contrast that with the limited resources devoted to the problem from the SRF and local sources. They do share some success stories from Chicago, IL; Aurora, CO; Louisville, KY; New York, NY; and Reno, NV. Some of the recommendations in the report will sound familiar: educate the public on the true cost of water; boost the SRF; and explore new financing options. Among the options the ASCE would examine are the Water Infrastructure Finance Innovations Authority (WIFIA) and the Water Trust Fund.
