Alex has led the analysis, development and implementation of some of the first water quality trading programs in the Pacific Northwest. He has deep experience working directly with private and public entities to develop watershed restoration solutions for Clean Water Act compliance or to achieve voluntary conservation goals.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released its latest infrastructure report card, and unfortunately, the U.S. is barely squeaking by with a D+. That’s a D – as in “dismal outlook” – for the state of our drinking water, stormwater and sewer services, as well as roads, bridges, dams, levees, railroads, airports, and energy delivery systems.
It’s not hard to see why. The recent near-failure of the Oroville Dam put more than 180,000 Californians at risk of major flooding and loss of their homes. In Boston last year, a truck sank into a flooded sinkhole at the site of a major water main break. A few months later, a collapsed sewer line in Los Angeles spilled 2.4 million gallons of untreated sewage into the Los Angeles River and forced the closure of local beaches.
There’s a lot to fix because first, there’s simply a lot: Approximately 51,000 community water systems deliver drinking water through 1 million miles of pipe to customers nationwide. And second, the vast majority of it is outdated: More than 14,000 wastewater treatment plants in the country are grappling with failing systems built in the 1960s and 1970s.
According to ASCE, it will cost $105 billion over the next 10 years to maintain and build out the complex network of pipes, pumps and plants. But in addition to repairing and replacing concrete and steel, we must be investing in nature to secure a more sustainable water future.
“The Report Card clearly demonstrates that our country has some serious work to do in terms of infrastructure,” said Greg DiLoreto, past president of ASCE. “It’s going to take an array of solutions to address these challenges, including considering the way the natural environment enhances infrastructure’s sustainability and resilience.”
Natural infrastructure, or green infrastructure, draws on solutions from the natural world to manage water. Protecting forests and watersheds, retaining vegetated buffers, and managing farmland sustainably are examples. When properly implemented at scale, these actions can have massive benefits for water quality, flood control, stormwater management and water quantity resiliency. Restoration projects also can have other environmental benefits that water managers rarely consider – like protecting endangered fish and bird habitat and carbon sequestration.
