Rural Matters 2013 Issue 2 - Director's Letter

Robert Stewart
RCAP Executive Director
RCAP National Office, Washington, D.C.

As you will read in this issue, once again, there are new reports about projected water and wastewater infrastructure funding requirements. Both the EPA and the American Society of Civil Engineers have published studies in recent months that document water infrastructure investment needs of between $298 billion and $384 billion.

However, federal expenditures to meet these needs have decreased steadily over the last ten years. In many cases, state and local governments are working to meet these unmet needs. For instance, in my home state of Texas, a recent state legislative initiative, if approved by the voters in November, will take $2 billion from the state’s “Rainy Day Fund” (rather ironic given the ongoing drought in the Southwest) to improve water infrastructure across the state. Notably, 10 percent of these funds will be dedicated to rural communities and 20 percent for water conservation and reuse. While all sides can find fault in some aspect of this initiative, it passed through the legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support, marking a continuing commitment to funding needed water projects, which create jobs and promote economic growth for the state.

After hearing the results of so many water and wastewater needs assessments, you would think everyone, at every level of government, would realize that vital water and wastewater systems are in dire need of increased investment. At the same time, attention needs to be paid to the important role of private-sector investments, even if efforts in this direction are in their infancy.

A provision in this year’s Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) is set to create a pilot program to assess the feasibility of using innovative financing tools, that being to attract private investment capital, in order to fund additional water-resources development. For rural communities, this program may not be of much benefit in its current form as it expects projects to be in excess of $5 million, far more than what is usually needed for small, rural utilities. At least that marks some small movement to address this situation.

Traditionally, the federal government has provided financing support to rural water utilities through the EPA’s State Revolving Fund and USDA’s Rural Utilities Service. RCAP feels strongly that these funding sources should be maintained and strengthened.  Small, typically lower-income rural communities need some level of grants and reduced-interest loans to make vital water services available to their residents.

All of this brings us back to the needs assessments. You might wonder why we continue to spend resources to document these water and wastewater infrastructure needs if they routinely show the same, ever-increasing needs, needs that are being ignored at the peril of our public health and our economic viability.