U.S. Water News Online
OMAHA, Neb.-- Nebraska municipalities and utility districts need to spend around $1.4 billion to plug up or replace aging or ailing water systems, the Environmental Protection Agency says.
An EPA report said pipe repairs and replacements are critically needed because pipe failures waste water and raise the risks of contamination.
The pipe work amounts to more than half of Nebraska's $1.4 billion bill, the report said.
The recently released report helps the federal government determine where to put the $850 million a year it disburses to improve water delivery systems.
Nebraska gets about $8 million of that.
The EPA estimated that at least $277 billion must be spent over the next 20 years to bolster its water systems.
Jack Daniel, Nebraska's chief regulator for drinking water, said that although water quality remains good, "small-town America needs some help here."
He said more than 100 communities, sanitary and improvement districts and mobile home parks in Nebraska have only a single well to draw from, which leaves their supplies vulnerable, especially during drought.
Last year, he said, the state issued more than 372 citations for water samples that exceeded standards for harmful bacteria or other contamination.
The American Water Works Association, which represents large water systems, has said communities handle the repair and replacement costs on their own, that bigger chunks of federal aid isn't needed.
But Daniel said Nebraska has scores of communities that lack the tax base to cover the improvements, and so need extra state or federal help.
Daniel said the EPA report also underestimated by $180 million Nebraska costs for meeting new federal standards for arsenic and uranium.
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