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Celebrate World Water Week and Come Discuss Water Infrastructure Issues Affecting the U.S.
The nation’s leading water organizations and stakeholders gathered this week in Washington, DC to celebrate Water Week 2017. The event provides a platform for individuals and organizations to advocate for national policies that advance clean, safe, and sustainable water for all Americans.
According to the group’s website, “The goal of Water Week is to strengthen the partnership between the federal government and the water sector, emphasize the importance of investment in water infrastructure and research, continue to inform state and national policymakers about crucial water-related issues—including high-impact economic development and job creation, public health and protection, conservation and sustainability to name a few— and to inspire them to act.”
Water Week is also held in conjunction with World Water Day on March 22. The occasion was first designated in 1993 by the United Nations General Assembly to bring attention to the 1.8 billion people living without access to clean drinking water.
The vinyl industry will also be meeting with policymakers in Washington on May 17th and 18th to discuss water infrastructure issues and solutions for addressing the nation’s water crisis with PVC pipe. As policymakers prepare to address the water infrastructure crisis they should ensure water infrastructure funding programs improve system efficiencies, the stewardship of taxpayer dollars, and the protection of local ratepayers.
More specifically, we will be asking policymakers to preserve the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities Service’s (RUS) longstanding open and free competition procurement requirement for federally funded water and wastewater projects. The program prevents local monopolies by allowing for competition in the bidding process which drives down material costs while still allowing project engineers a choice in the pipe they specify.
Additionally, the RUS should serve as a model for all water infrastructure projects receiving federal funding because it leads to good asset management practices and more sustainable water infrastructure. Oversight will lead to improved stewardship of our sewer and water systems, of taxpayer dollars, and of local ratepayers who ultimately pay the tab for agencies’ inefficiencies in administering these programs.
Please join us at the 2017 Vinyl Industry Congressional Fly-in on May 17th and 18th to address these and other critical issues with policymakers here in Washington, DC.