Most Americans take for granted easy access to safe and abundant water. Even in areas beset by drought, the precious liquid is more easily accessible and far more sanitary than throughout a substantial portion of the globe.
However, in an exclusive interview on the New York Analysis of Policy & Government radio program, the “Vernuccio/Novak Report,” Vincent Caprio, co-founder of The Water Innovations Alliance described the numerous ways the U.S. water supply is increasingly endangered. Unfortunately, due to obsolescent equipment, pipelines that are far beyond their useful life, terrorist threats and cyber attacks from nations such as China, the future holds significant uncertainty and peril.
Caprios’ concerns are shared by many organizations and individuals who have carefully examined the U.S. water infrastructure.
The American Waterworks Association in its report, “Buried no longer: confronting America’s water infrastructure challenge” notes that “restoring existing water systems as they reach the end of their useful lives and expanding them to serve a growing population will cost at least $1 trillion over the next 25 years, if we are to maintain current levels of water service. Delaying the investment can result in degrading water service, increasing water service disruptions, and increasing expenditures for emergency repairs. Ultimately we will have to face the need to ‘catch up’ with past deferred investments, and the more we delay the harder the job will be when the day of reckoning comes. In the years ahead, all of us who pay for water service will absorb the cost of this investment, primarily through higher water bills. The amounts will vary depending on community size and geographic region, but in some communities these infrastructure costs alone could triple the size of a typical family’s water bills. Other communities will need to collect significant ‘impact’ or development fees to meet the needs of a growing population. Numerous communities will need to invest for replacement and raise funds to accommodate growth at the same time. Investments that may be required to meet new standards for drinking water quality will add even more to the bill.
The McWane organization concurs. “Unknown to most Americans, the United States faces today a severe crisis, a nationwide network of aging water and sewer infrastructure. In the next few decades, most American cities and counties will be forced to replace their current infrastructure with new pipes that will bring clean water to the homes of the American people. Today’s infrastructure was installed by our great-great grandparents and great grandparents. … It is time to provide the infrastructure to provide clean water for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”
The immediate nightmare scenario facing the U.S. water supply is hostile action, either from terrorists or an adversarial government that would employ cyber warfare (or the threat of it) against the infrastructure. Kevin Coleman, writing in Directions magazine, writes that “There are nearly 50,000 community and 200,000 public and private water systems in operation today. Concerns have been raised over protecting the nation’s water supply from terrorist attacks. [A] grim warning from Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson acknowledged the threat. In his resignation speech he stated that an attack on our food or water supply would be ‘so easy to do.’… the EPA has set up a special task force to enhance protection efforts already underway.
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“Physical destruction. Many observers believe that physical destruction of water system components or the disruption of a water supply is a much more likely scenario than a contamination event. …
“Bioterrorism/Chemical Contamination… bioterrorism is a buzzword that catches immediate attention. Technically, the term refers to massive contamination by a microbiological agent, but there is also concern about contamination by a toxic chemical, both of which, under certain circumstances, can be considered weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Major Donald C. Hickman, in a paper urging better protection of US Air Force water systems against deliberate contamination, cites the release of sewage into a Bohemian reservoir by Nazi agents, the dumping of animal carcasses and hazardous materials into the majority of Kosovo’s wells, and the use of cherry laurel water, which contains cyanide, by Nero against his enemies in ancient Rome, to build his case (Hickman, 1999)…
“Backflow… Almost every home and building on a public water system has unprotected access to the distribution system… Contaminants could also be introduced into a system in distribution reservoirs and through fire hydrants.
“Cyber attack. The threat and reality of cyber attacks can affect the entire infrastructure network. Prof. James T. Lambert of the University of Virginia, in a presentation to the participants of a US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) sponsored workshop, cited research showing that many water utility …systems are susceptible to hacking, which could result in disclosure or theft of sensitive information, corruption of information, or, at the worst extreme, denial of service (USEPA/DOE Workshop: Lambert)…”
A long-term interruption of the water supply can result in a greater risk of mass disruption than almost any other calamity. Governments at all levels need to begin preparations to protect the systems from the immediate threat of terrorist or cyber attack, and the inevitable and upcoming crises from the obsolescence of the nation’s dated infrastructure.