For the last few decades, investments in water and wastewater infrastructure across America have been insufficient to lagging behind what’s needed to update and improve systems.  A one-time investment in sustainable water and sewage infrastructure has great potential to advance equity in public health and safety outcomes, economic growth, and environmental resilience.

In order to achieve these desired outcomes, policy solutions must be centered in promoting equity, while striving for efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Asking the right questions at the onset will help decision-makers diagnose the barriers specific to their community — physical infrastructure might be unaffordable or insufficient to meet demand, it might not be up to public health and safety standards, or it might be susceptible to environmental damage. Determining which of these barriers apply to the local context is a crucial first step to crafting policy solutions that will be effective in advancing desired outcomes.

Policy Playbooks: Building Sustainable Infrastructure for the Future