As America just celebrated its 240th birthday on July 4, 2016, I noted that I have been seeing an increasing number of articles about the state of the United States water and electrical infrastructure. As I reviewed these articles, both current and historic, a pattern which defies logic (at least in my opinion) is clearly apparent. Before I explain this statement, I need to present some background.
When I wrote and published my two books involving the water infrastructure (Understanding Water Rights and Conflicts, Second Edition, 2004) and (Understanding Water and Terrorism, 2010), I was very concerned with the state of America’s water and electrical infrastructure. These books were written with the intention of presenting a simple, easy to understand explanation of these two infrastructures and the relationship between them. Both books are available in EPub and Kindle format at the links above.
Following is a select list of a few of the many articles which I have scanned and organized since the years I published these two books. Note this list is not at all comprehensive but it does reflect the tone of the engineering, electrical and water professionals who understand the problem. It also reflects the variety of publications which touch on these very critical infrastructures.
| Article Title | Publication | Publication Date |
| Denver Firm’s Mine Poisons River | Rocky Mountain News | August 23, 1995 |
| The 138 Billion Dollar Clean Water Solution | NUCA Magazine | April 1997 |
| EPA Forecasts Clean Water Treatment Needs | Environmental Marketplace News | October 1997 |
| Nation’s Water Costs Rushing Higher | USA Today | September 28, 2002 |
| Congress Trims State Revolving Funds | WaterWorld | Feb 2012 |
| New Report Highlights Staggering Costs Ahead for Water Infrastructure | WaterWorld Magazine, Waterworld.com | April 2012 |
| How a Smart Water system can save money | Water/Wastewater Magazine | April 2012 |
| Troubled Waters | Christian Science Monitor Weekly | December 3, 2012 |
| The Pending Water Shortage | Chemical Engineering Magazine | June 2013 |
| The Power of Water | Net Zero Magazine, www.nzhmagazne.com | September 2013 |
| Water Wise | Emergency Management Magazine | Sept/Oct 2014 |
| Americans’ Deeply Concerned about Water Infrastructure | WaterWorld Magazine, Waterworld.com | March 2016 |
| Billions Pledged to Improve US Water Infrastructure | WaterWorld Magazine, Waterworld.com | May 2016 |
| Senate Panel Eyes Water Infrastructure Needs | WaterWorld Magazine, Waterworld.com | June 2016 |
| Poor US Infrastructure Could Cost $1.4 Trillion in 10 Years | Material Handling and Logistics (NHL) Magazine, MHLNews.com | June 2016 |
| National Infrastructure shortfall continues to grow | Logistics Management Magazine, Logisticsmgmt.com | June 2016 |
The June, 2016 Logistics Management magazine article entitled National Infrastructure shortfall continues to grow sums up the challenge very well. It states:
“An ongoing and ever-mounting deficit for U.S. infrastructure continues to be the norm., according to the most recent edition of the “Failure of Act” report by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Lack of sufficient investment into infrastructure will result in U. S. businesses being less efficient, with business productivity and GDP falling, coupled with drops in employment and personal income. From a financial perspective, ASCE said that from 2016 to 2025, each U. S. household stands to lose $3,500 in disposable income annually because of infrastructure deficiencies, with that loss pegged to rise to $5,100 annually from 2026 to 2040 if not addressed. And if it goes unattended by 2025, the U. S. economy is expected to lose nearly $4 trillion in GDP with a loss of 2.5 million jobs. As for the current state of U. S. infrastructure, ASCE was clear that the U. S. infrastructure is not making the grade, giving it an average of D+.”
Given that this is the case, and that the ASCE gave the infrastructure the same “D” grade back in 2002, and before, things have not changed much. As I note in my book Understanding Water and Terrorism:
“Humans can live only minutes without air, several days without water and weeks without food. Yet, for most of us, the thought of not having “a drink of water” when we are thirsty is foreign. Very few of us would deliberately forgo a drink of water for even a day. The average amount of water used per person (depending on activity) is .2 to 15 liters a day (3.7 liters=1 gallon) with the average drink being .2 liters.
Because water is so important to our survival, our water supply systems were identified as one of eight critical infrastructure systems in Presidential Decision Directive 63 (PDD 63). This Directive issued on May 22, 1998, was intended to achieve and maintain the capability to protect our nation’s critical infrastructure from intentional acts of terror.”
However, even with numerous books and an increasing number of articles about these two critical infrastructures, the electrical grid and the water supply system, Americans don’t appear to comprehend the reality of the problem. The following is from my blog entitled “Heightened Awareness” presented in October 2006.
“Only heightened public awareness of issues like energy, water and terrorism will really make a difference to the survival of this country. While very few of us need to be experts, a good working knowledge about these extremely important topics allows us to exchange meaningful ideas and question the experts and leadership. For some reason our politicians are unwilling to lead us. So the general public needs to take the lead. Need we continue to be puerile about these issues?
Sadly, it seems to me that our country’s leadership actually reflects us very well. We all seem to want instant answers and quick fixes. It seems that both major political parties, Republicans and Democrats, are more motivated by self-interest than whether America survives as a country. The latest public outcry is often designed to deflect our attention away from key survival issues. The economic bottom line seems to be the most important issue in our lives and our society.
Worse, we do not seem to realize the need to know more about these critical survival issues. We seem to be satisfied with the information contained in 60 second sound bites, unwilling to make an effort to become informed to have meaningful discussions, find viable solutions and insuring that we can maintain our way of life.”
Clearly this problem of a rapidly declining infrastructure has transcended four, if not more, presidential administrations. Starting with the Clinton Administration, and continuing through the current administration, the ASCE infrastructure grade has remained at a level of “D.” This clearly is not a “Republican” or “Democratic” issue, since it spanned both types of administrations. The minor changes / improvements made over the last 30 years do not even begin to address the problem with either of these infrastructures. They don’t even keep up with the degradation due to the passage of time.
You might say the improvement / replacement of these infrastructures is purely in the hands of the utilities which own and operate them. If they were completely a private enterprise, that might be true. However, these utilities are public-private entities. They are governed by federal regulation and take “public money” for operation and maintenance. This quasi-municipal status puts them directly into the public arena, and subject to the whims of the political elite and ruling class.
So how do these two infrastructures defy logic? Let me explain.
Given that we need both the water and electrical infrastructure to survive (both personally and as a society), and that the decline of these infrastructures has been consistent and constant over the last four administrations, why do we keep electing the same class of people to both Congress and the Presidency? Yes, they may be different because they have an “R” or “D” behind their names, but they state the same old platitudes, positions and espouse the same policies. The people we have put into office (president and congress) over the last 30 years have clearly been totally ineffective with respect to leadership involving our water infrastructure and electrical grid.
These two infrastructures are critical to the survival and sustainability of our society, yet presidential administrations and congresses come and go, and there is no change. Waiting for them to make the necessary changes via their leadership clearly is not working. Things are actually getting worse, as the engineering life of the components are ebbing away. The majority of the water infrastructure is definitely beyond its engineering life of 50 years. The electrical grid is continuously being overtaxed due to the exponential advance of technology and the use of the cloud. How can we continue to re-elect the same people to “leadership” positions given the fact that they are unwilling to make the changes that are so critically necessary to sustain our society? It seems logical to me that we, as the electorate, would at some point in time, take notice that our survival is actually at risk, and demand change by putting people in leadership positions who have a chance of making the necessary changes in focus, or at the very least, actually talk about making changes.
Take the current election cycle for the U. S. President. Why are we, as a society, even thinking of electing someone who is a member of the “political class”, such as Hillary Clinton. She has been a “political insider” and member of the “1%” ruling elite since her husband was president. How can we truly expect any change beyond some minor fixes around the “edge” of the problem, with people like her in office? They seem to want to keep the “status quo” because they are being enriched by the current system and see no reason to change.
This is probably the best reason to vote for someone like Donald Trump or Bernie Sanders. Clearly they are not “political insiders,” nor have they been in political leadership. It stands to reason that, while we may not like their stated positions, there is a possibility that they may bring a new psychology to the top “ruling elite” and political class. Their election to office has a chance to slightly shift the course of this country. For example, both of these men espouse positions far different than that of the “political insiders.” This is clearly the case, otherwise there would not be the extreme push from the Republican and Democratic leadership, and their financial supporters, to have both candidates marginalized and discredited, in favor of more “traditional candidates.”
We have, for the last 30 years, been “shooting ourselves in the foot” with respect to our most important critical infrastructure components the water infrastructure and electrical grid. By electing and re-electing these same people to political office and leadership, we have lost time, expertise and opportunity to make the changes necessary for converting 19th century infrastructures into 21st century infrastructures. It defies logic to believe that anything will change with respect to the water or electrical infrastructure based on past performance, if people like Hillary, Jeb or Ted, as well as the many other “political insiders”, are kept in “leadership” roles in this country.
Sincerely,
H. Court Young
Author, publisher, speaker and geologist
Promoting awareness through the written word
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