Photo: Waves off Anna Maria Island, FL. Photo credit: Brett Meliti on Unsplash.
Last month, we celebrated World Water Day with the global theme “leave no one behind.” EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler marked the occasion by highlighting water as “the largest and most immediate environmental and public health issues affecting the world right now.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched the Business Task Force on Water Policy because we agree.
Why we must take action
Water services are vital to creating a thriving economy, creating jobs, supporting high-growth companies and ensuring quality of life; they can help fuel energy, sustain public health and lay critical groundwork to smart cities infrastructure. First-class water services are essential to improve the competitiveness of the U.S. economy and to fuel the investment needs to expand critical economic gains.
Without sustainable, reliable supplies of water, attracting new businesses to communities across America becomes more challenging. Cities, especially small communities, are unable to afford multimillion-dollar wastewater system upgrades to replace aging pipes and treatment systems as revenues are down and maintenance costs are rising.
A solid start
It is going to take innovation and investment to get us on the road to sustaining critical water infrastructure. How will this be done in an era of shrinking budgets?
To begin addressing the $82 billion annual gap in drinking water and wastewater funding at all levels, Congress […]
Full article: Why American Businesses Need Modern Water Infrastructure
