The water infrastructure challenges in New England are significant. The 2012 Clean Water Needs Survey identified more than $18 billion is needed in infrastructure investments. In the 2021 Report Card for America’s infrastructure, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave EPA Region 1 states no better than a C- grade for the status of their infrastructure investments, noting the mounting costs of deferred maintenance. New England has dozens of impaired waterways that require billions of dollars of investments to improve nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen), bacteria, or sediment levels in our waterways.
Compounding these stressors will be the impacts of climate change on our region. Five of the six EPA Region 1 states are sea level-rise hot spots, and our only landlocked state, Vermont, experiences flooding from extreme storms and nutrient loading into their water bodies, including Lake Champlain, resulting in harmful algal blooms and drinking water impairments.
Nowhere are these challenges greater than in under-resourced communities that lack the capacity to access much-needed infrastructure funds.