Needs and Trends of the Nation's Water Infrastructure — The Utility Perspective

Widespread changes in the climate, demographics, population and economics are expected to impact the quantity, quality and timing of water resources across the globe in the 21^st century. Some of these impacts may affect the performance and sustainability of the Nation's urban water resources infrastructure. In anticipation of these imminent global changes and their impact on the Nation's water infrastructure, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is implementing the Water Resources Adaptation Program for Infrastructure (WRAP-Infrastructure). WRAP seeks to identify and evaluate innovative approaches to improve the planning, design, operation and maintenance of the Nation's water resources infrastructure in the 21^st century. A key question to be addressed by the WRAP program is, "How can the functionality of the Nation's aging water infrastructure be maintained and sustained to protect human health and preserve the environment for future generations in the face of profound global changes?" To help answer this question, a national data collection effort was conducted with water utilities to identify key factors affecting the current and future performance and sustainability of the water resources infrastructure across the US. Over 60 public and private water and wastewater utilities responded to a detailed web-based questionnaire. Data from this national reconnaissance are reported here.