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DRIVER-FUNDING-INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING INFRASTRUCTURE: The nationwide need for investment in water and wastewater infrastructure continues to far outpace the amount of funding that is available at all levels of government and the United States has an estimated need between $400 and $600 billion over the next 20 years for safe drinking water and wastewater treatment infrastructure. One of the primary sources of federal funding for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure are the highly successful, but chronically underfunded, Safe Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (SRF) programs. Modernizing and replacing aging water infrastructure may be the single largest public works endeavor in our nation's history. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis found a $540 billion gap between current spending and projected needs for water and wastewater infrastructure (combined) over 20 years. Other public studies conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and a private study produced by AGC partner, the Water Infrastructure Network, have similarly estimated the nation?s water infrastructure needs to range between $400 and $600 billion over a 20-year period.

The Aging Water Infrastructure (AWI) research program is part of EPA's larger effort called the Sustainable Water Infrastructure (SI) initiative. The SI initiative brings together drinking water and wastewater utility managers; trade associations; local watershed protection organizations; and federal, state, and local officials to ensure that all components of our nation's water infrastructure….drinking water treatment plants, drinking water distribution lines, sewer lines, and storage facilities….meet future needs. The AWI research program supports the four priority areas of the SI initiative's strategy: (1) Better Management - moving beyond compliance to sustainability and improved performance, (2) Full-cost Pricing - helping utilities to recognize the full cost of providing service over the long term, (3) Water Efficiency - promoting water efficiency in the residential and commercial sectors, (4) Watershed Approach - integrating watershed management principles and tools into utility planning and management practices. The driving force behind the SI initiative and the AWI research program is the "Clean Water and Drinking Water Infrastructure Gap Analysis." In this report, EPA estimated that if operation, maintenance, and capital investment remain at current levels, the potential funding shortage for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure could exceed $500 billion by 2020.

DRIVER-WATER-SCARCITY-INFRASTRUCTURE-MATERIALS The North American drinking water infrastructure network spans an estimated 1 million miles, more than four times longer than the National Highway System, and that doesn't even take wastewater pipes into account. Much of the water infrastructure in the United States will need to be replaced in the next three decades. A large portion of water pipes was installed during three periods, and they will all need to be replaced in the next 25 years. Consider the following The oldest cast iron pipes laid in the late 1800s usually last 120 years; Pipes laid in 1920s must be replaced after 100 years; Pipes from the post-World War II boom wear out after 75 years. According to a 2012 report done by the American Water Works Association, the cost estimate to replace the old pipes is approximately $1 trillion over the next 25 years. The longer our water infrastructure is out of sight and out of mind, the closer we are to a serious national situation that will require immediate and dramatic funding. The cost of water infrastructure replacement far exceeds the financial capabilities of local water utilities and requires a strong commitment from not only utilities but rate-payers and government as well.

When we modeled what the next two decades would look like if we continued current underinvestment trends, we found that no industry is immune to water disruptions. The most water-reliant businesses will spend $250 billion in 2039 on costs related to water service disruptions. Less reliable water service would make industries less efficient and profitable, and the consequences would ripple across the entire economy, leading to more than $4.5 trillion in lost business sales, a $2.9 trillion decline in the gross domestic product (GDP), and 636,000 fewer jobs. Individual households and communities would also endure the consequences of underinvestment as more frequent and extreme weather inflict shutdowns, and street flooding deteriorating and rupturing water infrastructure. Without proper infrastructure investment, there will be greater costs to US households. At the current rate, costs will be seven times higher in 20 years than they are today, totaling $14 billion in 2039.

According to the new report released last week by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Value of Water Campaign, the United States is underinvesting in its drinking water and wastewater systems, putting American households and the economy at risk. The report, "The Economic Benefits of Investing in Water Infrastructure: How a Failure to Act Would Affect the U.S. Economy Recovery," finds that as water infrastructure deteriorates and service disruptions increase, annual costs to American households due to water and wastewater failures will be seven times higher in 20 years than they are today -from $2 billion in 2019 to $14 billion by 2039.

DRIVER-MATERIALS-INFRASTRUCTURE Municipal pipe market spending makes up 30 percent of overall utility CAPEX for water infrastructure. In part, to address aging pipes, bursts, and other leakage management issues, the pipe market is turning to new materials (plastic) and new technologies (trenchless). More than $234 billion (USD) of capital expenditures (CAPEX) are forecasted over the next decade to address aging municipal water and wastewater pipe network infrastructure, according to Bluefield's forecasts. Precipitated by decades of underinvestment, municipal utilities are under increasing pressure to address deteriorating linear assets at a faster pace. Water losses through leaks for U.S. utilities average 15 percent annually, with some cities, towns, and communities losing more than half of all water pumped and treated for distribution to customers. As a result, rehabilitation of existing pipes is the fastest growing spend category, increasing annually from $253 million in 2019 to $576 million by 2028. Network expansions, particularly in high population growth across the sunbelt states (e.g. Texas and Arizona), will drive the lion's share of spending on new build.

"The smart building market was valued at USD 82.55 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 229.10 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of over 11.33% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). Growing energy concerns, increasing government initiatives on smart infrastructure projects are driving the market's growth positively. Solutions, such as the Building Energy Management System, Infrastructure Management System, and Intelligent Security System, are being adopted for smart buildings. BEMS is integrated, computerized systems for monitoring and controlling energy-related building services plant and equipment, such as HVAC systems and lighting, among others"

The article addresses some of the problems the supply chain infrastructure is facing today. It brings up some interesting points: US ports lag far behind ports around the world in their efficiency of loading and unloading cargo. The labor unions that control the ports are extremely reluctant to automation that might improve efficiencies and speed up processes.

In a 2018 survey and assessment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that drinking water infrastructure alone needed nearly $500 billion in maintenance and improvements over the next 20 years. This figure does not even include the cost of addressing lead service line issues and the need to add additional capacity in growing communities. Coupled with the need to replace aging pipes, water utilities are facing the need to prepare for the impacts of climate change on their operations. Recent drought events suggest that water supplies in many states will face serious challenges just to keep operating normally.

"The global energy management system market was valued at USD 8.2 billion in 2020 and expected to reach USD 19.91 billion by 2026 and grow at a CAGR of 16.2% over the forecast period (2021 - 2026). The increasing focus toward issues, such as managing energy consumption, optimizing the use for renewable energy sources, and reducing carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions, is creating a demand for EMS. Further, cloud services effectively minimize operational costs of software development and maintenance and direct the monetary costs, cost of time, and spent resources on maintaining the in-house IT professionals and infrastructure on gathering, storing, and analyzing energy data.​ Cloud services are an ongoing trend responsible for the growth of the market studied."

Interesting thesis about climate change and ports. The paper discusses the importance of ports to world trade and national security (specificallyf or the US). The US military has recently become more of an expeditionary force rather than occupational, subsequently ports are becoming more important. However, impending climate change threatens the port operations and infrastructure that need to be understood.

The Department of Defense's (DOD) Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight (Corrosion Office) provides information, including the needed funding levels for the military departments' Corrosion Control and Prevention Executives (Corrosion Executives), in its Corrosion Office Annual Reports to Congress. Corrosion Executives are responsible for overseeing efforts to prevent and mitigate corrosion of weapon system programs and infrastructure.

DRIVERS-POLLUTION-TREATMENT-SCARCITY-INFRASTRUCTURE Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) are a group of disinfection byproducts that form when chlorine compounds that are used to disinfect water react with other naturally occurring chemicals in the water. They are colorless, and will evaporate out of the water into the air. There are four significant TTHM potentially found in disinfected drinking water and their combined concentration is referred to as total TTHM. Levels of TTHM generally increase in the summer months due to the warmer temperatures, but can also be affected by seasonal changes in source water quality or by changing amounts of disinfection added. Water systems often can experience temporary increases in TTHM due to short-term increases in chlorine disinfection. Chlorine disinfection increases can occur when there is a water main break, when water systems are under repair, or when there is a potential microbial (example: bacteria) problem or threat.

Please be sure to select some text that gives us a sense of the "scan hit"

DRIVER-INFRASTRUCTURE-FUNDING-POLITICS 5-year update to 50-year Texas Water Plan QUICK FACTS: **Texas' state water plans are based on future conditions in the event of a recurrence of the worst recorded drought in Texas' history-known as the "drought of record"-a time when, generally, water supplies are lowest and water demands are highest. **Texas' population is anticipated to increase 73 percent between 2020 and 2070, from 29.7 million to 51.5 million, with approximately half of this growth occurring in Regions C and H. Water demands are projected to increase less significantly, by approximately 9 percent between 2020 and 2070, from 17.7 million to 19.2 million acre-feet per year. **Texas' existing water supplies-those that can already be relied on in the event of drought-are projected to decline by approximately 18 percent between 2020 and 2070, from 16.8 million to 13.8 million acre-feet per year primarily due to reservoir sedimentation and depletion of aquifers. **Water user groups face a potential water shortage of 3.1 million acre-feet per year in 2020 and 6.9 million acrefeet per year in 2070 in drought of record conditions. **Approximately 5,800 water management strategies recommended in this plan would provide 1.7 million acrefeet per year in additional water supplies to water user groups in 2020 and 7.7 million acre-feet per year in 2070. **Conservation strategies represent approximately 29 percent, or 2.2 million acre-feet per year, of all recommended water management strategy volumes in 2070 and were recommended for more than half of the water user groups in the plan. **The estimated capital cost to design, construct, and implement the more than 2,400 recommended water management strategy projects by 2070 is $80 billion. If strategies are not implemented, approximately one-quarter of Texas' population in 2070 would have less than half the municipal water supplies they will require during a drought of record. **If Texas does not implement the sta

DRIVER-TTHMs-POLLUTION-PURITY-INFRASTRUCTURE-TREATMENT Trihalomethanes (THMs) are the result of a reaction between the chlorine used for disinfecting tap water and natural organic matter in the water. At elevated levels, THMs have been associated with negative health effects such as cancer and adverse reproductive outcomes. Now a study by government and academic researchers adds to previous evidence that dermal absorption and inhalation of THMs associated with everyday tap water use can result in significantly higher blood THM concentrations than simply drinking the water does [EHP 113:863-870]. The results of this exposure assessment study could serve as a guide for future epidemiologic investigations exploring the potential connection between THMs in tap water and adverse health effects.

DRIVER-INFRASTRUCTURE-SCARCITY-POLITICS By 2071, nearly half of the 204 freshwater basins in the United States may not be able to meet the monthly water demand. These model projections, recently published in the journal Earth's Future, are just one preliminary component of the upcoming Resources Planning Act (RPA) Assessment expected to be published next year. In 1974, congress required that this assessment of US renewable resources be published every 10 years. Conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, the research describes two causes for the projected shortages. The first is that the U.S. will simply have more people. Despite that the average American is using less water, population growth is still expected to increase water demand across most of the country. Second, the water supply itself is expected to decrease. Projected climate change affects both rain patterns and temperatures. While rainfall is expected to increase in some parts of the US, the southern Great Plains and parts of the South won't be so lucky. The water basins rely on rainfall to feed the rivers and tributaries that flow into them. Separately, more water will evaporate from reservoirs and streams as the climate gets warmer, further chipping away at the water supply. Around 50 years from now, many U.S. regions may see water supplies reduced by a third of their current size, while demand continues to increase.

DRIVERS-SCARCITY-INFRASTRUCTURE This study estimates the likelihood of water shortages over the remainder of the 21st century in 204 watersheds covering the contiguous United States. The estimates are based on monthly projections of water demand and renewable water supply in light of population growth and climate change, taking into account water storage and transbasin diversion capacities. The study then examines several possible adaptations to projected shortages, including water withdrawal efficiency improvements, reservoir storage enhancements, demand reductions, instream flow reductions, and groundwater depletion. Results provide a broad measure of the relative efficacy of the adaptation measures and show when and where the measures are likely to be helpful.

DRIVER-SCARCITY-POLLUTION-INFRASTRUCTURE Four billion people - almost two-thirds of the world's population - experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year. Over two billion people live in countries where the water supply is inadequate. Half of the world's population could be living in areas facing water scarcity by as early as 2025. Some 700 million people could be displaced by intense water scarcity by 2030. By 2040, roughly 1 in 4 children worldwide will be living in areas of extremely high water stress.