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Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment |  |
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Fact Sheet
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What Is the Total Need?
EPA found that the total infrastructure need nationwide is $276.8 billion for the 20-year period of January 2003 through December 2022. With $183.6 billion in needs over the next 20 years, transmission and distribution projects represent the largest category of need. This result is consistent with the fact that transmission and distribution mains account for most of the nation's water infrastructure. The other categories, in descending order of need, are: treatment, storage, source, and a miscellaneous category of needs called "other" that includes such items as security needs.
How Does the Need Compare to Previous Assessments?
The total national need of $276.8 billion reported by the third Needs Assessment is significantly greater than the $167.4 and $165.5 billion (in 2003 dollars) needs reported in the 1995 and 1999 assessments, respectively. The 2003 Assessment more accurately captures needs that were under-reported in earlier assessments, particularly costs needed to address necessary rehabilitation and replacement of deteriorating infrastructure. The large national need reflects the challenges confronting water systems as they deal with an infrastructure network that has aged considerably since these systems were constructed, in many cases, 50 to 100 years ago. The estimate is still lower than those from other assessments conducted by the Congressional Budget Office and by the water industry.
How Does the State Need Vary by System Size?
The Nation's largest water systems (serving more than 50,000 people) account for the greatest share, 44 percent, of the total national need. Medium and small systems also have substantial needs of $103 billion and $34.2 billion, respectively. Not-for-profit non-community water systems have $3.4 billion in need.
What Is the American Indian and Alaska Native Village System Need?
The total need for American Indian and Alaska Native Villages systems is $2.4 billion over 20 years, of which $2.3 billion is needed now.
| Total 20-Year Need (in billions of January 2003 dollars) |
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System Size and Type |
Need |
| Large Community Water Systems (serving over 50,000 people)1 | $122.9 |
| Medium Community Water Systems (serving 3,301 to 50,000 people)1 | $103.0 |
| Small Community Water Systems (serving 3,300 and fewer people) 1, 2 | $34.2 |
| Costs Associated with the Recently Promulgated Arsenic Rule3 | $0.9 |
| Not-for-profit Noncommunity Water Systems4 | $3.4 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native Village Water Systems 4, 5 | $2.4 |
Subtotal National Need |
$266.9 |
| Costs Associated with Proposed and Recently Promulgated Regulations (Taken from EPA Economic Analyses) | $9.9 |
Total National Need |
276.8 |
| Note: Numbers may not total due to rounding.
1 Does not include the costs associated with the recently promulgated Arsenic Rule and proposed or recently promulgated SDWA regulations; these costs are included on a separate line in this table. 2 Average per system needs from 1999 Assessment applied to 2003 inventory of small systems, adjusted to January 2003 dollars. 3 Does not include costs for American Indian and Alaska native village water systems to comply with the recently promulgated Arsenic Rule; these costs are incorporated in the estimate for American Indian and Alaska native village water systems. 4 1999 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Assessment findings adjusted to January 2003 dollars. 5 Includes cost for compliance with the recently promulgated Arsenic Rule. |
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What is the Need to Meet Regulatory Requirements?
Although all of the infrastructure projects in the assessment promote the public health objectives of the SDWA, approximately $45.1 billion (16.3%) of the total national need is directly attributable to specific SDWA regulations. Most of these funds, $35.2 billion, are needed to address existing SDWA regulations (including the arsenic rule which is effective in January 2006). Projects to address microbiological contamination account for 86 percent, or $30.2 billion, of the needs to meet existing SDWA regulations.
The regulatory need also includes $9.9 billion in costs associated with proposed or recently finalized regulations. These costs, which were taken from economic analyses prepared as part of each rule-making, include $3.2 billion to address acute contaminants under the final Long Term 1 and proposed Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rules (LT1 and LT2), the proposed Ground Water Rule, and the final Filter Backwash Recycling Rule. $6.7 billion is needed to meet requirements related to regulations for chronic contaminants, which include the final Stage 1 and proposed Stage 2 Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts Rules (Stage 1 and Stage 2 DBPR), the proposed Radon Rule, and the final Radionuclides Rule.
The water systems we surveyed identified $1 billion in security-related needs, most of which were for major system-wide security projects. Due to the sensitive nature of the information, systems were not required to report details for the needs. The total security needs are likely conservative because, although water systems have begun to identify their security needs, it is clear that many did not completely understand their total security needs at the time the assessment was conducted. Future assessments should better estimate the true security need for drinking water infrastructure.
How Credible are the Findings?
Statistically, the responses to the survey yielded results within a plus or minus 10% accuracy at a 95% confidence level. However, the methods developed for the assessment likely yield a conservative estimate of need. Despite the large magnitude of the total national need, the assessment may still underestimates the true need due to the stringent documentation criteria and the use of a mailed questionnaire to capture the needs of medium and large systems. Also, the scope of the assessment is limited to those needs eligible to receive DWSRF assistance—thus excluding capital projects related solely to dams, raw water reservoirs, future growth, and fire protection.
Most of the funding that water utilities use to improve their infrastructure is from local sources - typically the revenue provided by rates charged to customers. For larger infrastructure projects, utilities may finance improvements through long-term funding - by issuing bonds or taking out loans that are repaid by revenue from rates. State and federal funding programs have also been developed to help water utilities address needs, particularly for those utilities that are less able to afford improvements. The two largest federal programs which provide loans and grants for drinking water infrastructure are EPA's DWSRF program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Water program.
How will Water Utilities meet these Needs?
EPA is also promoting management practices that may help to reduce any potential gaps between available funding and future infrastructure needs. As part of the Agency's Sustainable Infrastructure Initiative, EPA is encouraging that utilities charge users for the full costs of service, adopt management practices that help them better manage their assets, implement measures to use water more efficiently and manage water resources within the context of the watershed. While no single initiative will answer the question of how to pay for the infrastructure needs identified in this assessment, each has great potential, and none has been fully exploited. Taken together, and used in a coordinated fashion with the significant levels of financial assistance available at the federal, state and local levels, they provide an outline of how local communities can address infrastructure needs in the future.
How can I get a copy?Information on the 2003 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment - Third Report to Congress is available from the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791. EPA will post the electronic files on the Agency’s web site at www.epa.gov/safewater. Free copies of the report are available from the National Service Center for Environmental Publications at 1-800-490-9198. You can also purchase reprints of the report through the Educational Resource Information Center at 1-800-276-0462 or through the National Technical Information Service at 1-800-553-NTIS or (703) 487-4650.
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