No Longer Buried?

Abstract

When AWWA published its landmark report Buried No Longer in 2012, its title was a play on the proverb “out of sight, out of mind.” Because valuable water distribution and collection pipelines are buried underground, they are easy to forget and potentially neglect. Research in that report projected the cost at the time to replace existing water systems in the United States as they reached the end of their useful lives and expand them to serve a growing population would be at least US$1 trillion over the following 25 years (we're almost in year 10). Buried No Longer provided a straightforward approach for cost estimation, and the related Buried No Longer online tool can still be used to provide individual utilities a 20- to 30-year economic forecast for pipe repair and replacement based on pipe size or pipe material categories. But while Buried No Longer shed light on the United States’ water infrastructure needs, it only touched on the necessary communication, stating that “. . . in many cases, difficult choices may need to be made between competing needs if water bills are to be kept affordable. Water utilities are willing to ask their customers to invest more, but it's important this investment be in things that bring the greatest actual benefit to the community.” In the nearly 10 years since Buried No Longer was released, the infrastructure has stayed buried, but the public's awareness of water issues has not. According to Google Trends, interest in the online search terms water and drinking water has steadily increased in North America since 2004, with annual peaks coming in the summer months. There are numerous significant news items on water every day, and many different media organizations have departments dedicated to covering water through their particular lenses. However, within the now-daily coverage of drought, floods, and industrial groundwater contamination, water professionals need to keep the original message from Buried No Longer at the front of the conversations—namely, that water systems need ongoing reinvestment and postponing those investments only makes problems worse. The public must better understand that investments in water systems are opportunities to improve their communities’ long-term sustainability while protecting the health of themselves and those around them. Water professionals need to effectively communicate within the larger discourse to keep the focus on safe drinking water from source to tap, which now includes the entire water cycle as well as well as managing relationships with customers, regulators, and other stakeholders. Ongoing communication is vital so that the public understands and appreciates the value of water services and the systems they rely on to provide them. This issue of Journal AWWA features articles on water system resilience, water quality monitoring, asset management, and other topics highlighted in Buried No Longer that are still important to the water industry. If you are interested in submitting an article, please contact me at journaleditor@awwa.org.