People see cracks in roads and potholes every day, but they rarely see the corrosion and decay taking place beneath our homes and roads...in our water infrastructure. 
 
Corroding and decaying pipes - some pipes so old they're made of wood - (see above) often lead to dire circumstances, i.e., water main breaks, excessive flooding (such as we've seen 
this year), waste and drinking water leaking into each other; and contamination of water, ground and beaches.  But because people don't often see these conditions, as underground and utility contractors do every day, they are unaware of unhealthy and unsafe conditions that are not being corrected, due to lack of funding.

When the Clean Water Act was passed more than thirty years ago, the federal government committed to clean up our nation's waters.  At that time, it funded 75% of the costs of maintaining a clean
water infrastructure in America.  Today, it's a mere 5%!   With the amount of work needed to maintain and modernize our water systems, we are slipping farther and farther behind.

It has been estimated by the EPA's 2002 Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis that gaps in funding would be more than half a trillion dollars by 2019! Yet many of our
legislators, by not fully addressing this escalating problem, seem to be asking us to figure out these hefty funding problems at the private, state and local levels.  Problems of this magnitude require more of a solution and greater assistance.

And there are other threats to our waters' safety.  Any attack to our water systems could be catastrophic.  You may remember what happened last summer when the East Coast suffered a power outage.  People were boiling their water for weeks.  This is a very minor problem compared to some we may suffer if we do not address these types of issues now.  The Department of Homeland Security is not financially equipped to fully protect our nation's water systems.  Shutting down a city's water supply, in essence, would shut down the city.

Remember, THERE IS NO LIFE WITHOUT WATER.  Please help. Contact your Representative and ask him or her to consider making water infrastructure funding a top priority on their Congressional agenda.

View detailed public opinion about water infrastructure funding provided by Luntz Research

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or call UCA for help at 630-467-1919

Click here to view the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers) 2003 Progress Report

Contribute to UCA's PAC Fund in support of water infrastructure issues