The ASCE Annual Infrastructure Report is complete. What Is our grade?
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Annual Infrastructure Report Card is complete. The report card assigns grades and offers solutions to various infrastructure categories, three of which we will be focusing on: Drinking Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater. As a country, Drinking Water has come up in their grade to a C- where wastewater stayed the same at a D+ and Stormwater is a new category at a D.
How does Indiana stack up on their report card? While our Drinking Water improvements are not as extreme as some states, we have an estimated need of $7.5 billion in improvements over the next 20 years, with wastewater coming in even higher at $7.2 billion in needs. Stormwater currently has limited data in Indiana since it is a new category.
There are three trends that the report card points out that can be part of the solution:
- Maintenance backlogs continue to be an issue, but asset management helps prioritize limited funding.
- Sectors like transit and wastewater have staggering maintenance deficits, but developing a clear picture of where the available funding is most needed improves overall system performance and public safety.
- The drinking water sector has embraced asset management and new technology to pinpoint leaks and target repairs.
While the three trends above address wastewater and drinking water, stormwater still struggles with a lack of data on its condition and inventory of assets. To fix this, targeted funding to collect reliable stormwater asset data is a must.
For a complete utilities assessment, improvements action plan, and assistance soliciting available grant and low-interest rate loan funding, contact Theresa Criss-Hartwig at 317-888-1177 or tcriss-hartwig@contactcei.com for more information.
References
ASCE. (2021). 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Retrieved from infrastructurereportcard.org: https://infrastructurereportcard.org/
