Just four years after one of the nation’s most ambitious private water contracts collapsed in Atlanta, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is hosting a conference there to promote the private sector involvement in water. The Bush administration’s focus on the private sector flies in the face of a long-standing federal commitment to partnering with states and municipalities to provide safe and affordable water for Americans.
Many cities across the country are operating drinking water and sewage systems designed and built before World War I. As our nation’s pipes and treatment systems age, more and more sewage spills into our streams, rivers, lakes and ocean, creating serious public health hazards. And population growth puts even more strain on our water systems. According to EPA’s most recent assessment, 45 percent of America’s are “impaired” – unsafe for fishing, swimming, or drinking.
Upon passage of the Clean Water Act in 1977, Congress declared “it is the national policy that Federal financial assistance be provided to construct publicly owned waste treatment works.” Still, revolving loan funds, the primary source of federal funding for water, supply less than 20 percent of all capital to wastewater utilities.
Between now and 2019, EPA predicts an annual gap of $22 billion between the funds available and the funds needed to maintain the nations pipes and treatment plants to meet minimum federal standards for drinking water. In spite of important new water regulations, crumbling pipes around the country, and an established funding shortfall, President Bush requested only $688 million for the wastewater fund for this year and next, a 22 percent decrease from 2006 funding.
Instead of providing needed funding for water, on March 22nd, a day many recognize as World Water Day, EPA will be hosting a conference in Atlanta to promote private sector involvement and the raising of water and sewer rates to pay for essential maintenance and upgrades – non-solutions that do not get us anywhere close to filling the funding gap.
In many cities, doubling, tripling, even quadrupling sewer fees would not be enough to meet replacement needs. Not all communities can afford the same level of fees, raising serious issues about fairness in providing comparable levels of clean water to all citizens.
The president and EPA would encourage privatization of public utilities by exempting private water utilities from the cap on private activity bonds, tax-exempt bonds issued by a state or local government. There is no evidence that private investment in the water sector will result in needed infrastructure investment. Communities around the country have experimented with privatization and found that the private sector has not solved their infrastructure needs.
Congress may actually restore funding for drinking water and clean water loan funds this year as they have done several times in response to inadequate funding requests from the Bush administration. However, Congress also has been known to cut those funds as water pipe repair competes with other priorities in Washington, DC. Rather than engage in a politically charged debate every year about funding for water pipes and treatment plants around the country, Congress should protect America’s water by establishing a trust fund that provides a designated revenue stream.
National priorities that transcend state and local boundaries should receive perpetual funding streams, immune from shifting political currents. There are trust funds for highways, airports and social security. Water is a public responsibility. In addition to increasing funding for existing programs, it’s time for a trust fund that protects our water and keeps it clean and safe.
Wenonah Hauter is the executive director of Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer rights organization that challenges the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources.
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