"We never know the worth of water till the well is dry." Let us hope we have some answers before our nation's well fails us.
"Chairman Simpson thank you for holding this hearing. Welcome to Mr. Shapiro, EPA's Deputy in the Office of Water and Mr. Gómez from the Government Accountability Office on the first panel and to the participants that will join us for a second panel.
"This subcommittee's jurisdiction includes the Federal Government's two main programs for financing drinking and wastewater infrastructure. The Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds combined totaled nearly $2.4 billion in FY 2012, comprising 28% of EPA's total appropriation. Given the fiscal environment of austerity in the Congress, it will be even more difficult for us to adequately fund the State Revolving Funds. Mr. Chairman you know my views that balancing the budget on the back of the discretionary budget is shortsighted and wrong.
"That is why this hearing is timely as we discuss what an adequate level of federal investment is. EPA has conducted surveys showing the needs in this sector are $635 billion over the next 20 years. Between the 2009 Recovery Act and the FY 2009 and 2010 Interior Appropriations bills we were able to provide nearly $13 billion for the State Revolving Funds, providing historic levels to provide essential water services to our citizens. Yet we have a funding gap between what is provided and what is needed of over $500 billion as reported by EPA in 2002.
"I fully support the Chairman's efforts to explore alternative financing, and we'll hear various viewpoints here today. Many of these novel ideas, like public-private partnerships, have been around for years and may be under-utilized by municipalities. Today I hope we can explore why more projects aren't financed through this model. Also a number of ideas are floating about in Congress, from creating a National Infrastructure bank to taxing bottled water to fund needed improvements in a crumbling infrastructure. We all recognize that our current course is unsustainable.
"Let's look no further than the District of Columbia to highlight our Nation's water ills. Brookings asked the question, "What would you pay for Clean Water" as they highlighted the plight of DC Water in trying to stop sewer overflow after rainfalls from entering waterways that lead into the Chesapeake Bay. DC's Clean Rivers Project would cost $2.6 billion and Brookings pointed out that Federal investment is inconsistent and the costs would be too much for ratepayers especially low-income residents. This is not an extreme case. This is an urban, suburban, and rural problem. How do you finance needed improvements without overburdening ratepayers?
"Thomas Fuller, a famous 17th century historian, once said, "We never know the worth of water till the well is dry." Let us hope we have some answers before our nation's well fails us.
"Mr. Chairman thank you. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses."
Source: U.S. Department of HCA
