Commentary—

Stimulus Should Spring From The Ground Up

By Kelle Louaillier

President Barack Obama and Congressional leaders want to see an economic stimulus package passed soon.

If the specifics of the package are in line with election rhetoric, the package could include significant investments in “green infrastructure” to stimulate job growth and reduce dependence on foreign oil. The whole package could include everything from an extension of jobless benefits to money for cities to make public buildings more energy efficient. But it cannot leave out the public water systems that national leaders have long taken for granted. Our economic prosperity as a country depends upon reliable water delivery and sewage treatment.

Over a century ago, the consolidation of smaller privately held water companies into larger municipal systems in the United States dramatically boosted people’s health and standard of living, which helped spur a period of rapid economic growth and prosperity. Even today these operations are among the best in the world, though the value national leaders have placed on them has diminished markedly over time.

Today our public water systems are facing a $22 billion annual shortfall between what they require and what they are allocated.

This is part of a trend that cities and towns have been resisting for the last three decades. In 1978, federal funding covered 78 percent of the cost for new water infrastructure. By 2007, it covered only three percent. That’s a paltry three percent, despite the fact that government spending on public water systems actually pays huge dividends for a struggling economy.

A recent study prepared for the US Conference of Mayors that examined more than 310 sources including economic studies, academic journals, and government reports finds that:

*$1 of water and sewer infrastructure investment increases Gross Domestic Product in the long term by $6.35;

*Each additional $1 of revenue to local government for providing water and sewer services increases revenue to all industries by $2.62 in that year; adding one new job in the local public water and sewer sector creates 3.68 jobs in the national economy to support that job.

What’s more, the jobs created in the public sector are green-collar. They ensure our water supply is safe. They are high-quality, career-track jobs that provide stable employment and fuel economic development. And ongoing innovation in this sector will ensure that our water systems are greener and more sustainable in the long term.

Additionally, public investment in protecting land around source water can yield long-term savings for taxpayers. The US Conference of Mayors finds that protecting one hectare of a wetland for source water can save more than $4,000 in avoided treatment costs and yield an additional $10,000 in other ecosystem services. In some cities, direct investment in public water infrastructure has been accompanied by strong messages to the public that they needn’t waste their hard-earned dollars on bottled water at all — which is often derived from the same source as tap water.

Not only is bottled water already less regulated than tap, but in the United States, manufacturing the plastic for the bottles puts more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide into the air annually, not including the energy used for driving the bottles around. Also, 38 billion plastic water bottles wind up in landfills or on roadsides as litter each year, which can cost cities up to $70 million in cleanup and disposal fees.

As cities across the United States save hundreds of thousands of dollars by cutting spending on bottled water, resources are freed up for more beneficial uses, including reinvestment in public water systems. These are the backbone of our country’s infrastructure, public health and economic prosperity — it’s time we start nurturing them.

Now, while many folks are still smarting from a bailout that appeared to put the lofty interests of Big Business before those of everyday Americans, our leaders have the opportunity to ensure that this next stimulus package wells from the ground up…literally.

(Kelle Louaillier is executive director, Corporate Accountability International.)