From Nygaard Notes Number 262, July 9, 2004

Last week I talked about the need for investment in the nation's bridges and other infrastructure. Apparently inspired by Nygaard Notes (HaHaHa), my regional paper, the Star Tribune, ran an article this week headlined "Crystal Clear is Costly for Small Towns; Outstate Areas Need $6.9 Billion in Water System Improvements, Foundation Says."

It was kind of an odd article for a "newspaper," since the foundation report on which it was based was released a year-and-a-half ago, but the information is important, and underlines what I was saying in last week's Notes, when I reported on a study that was done a mere 10 months ago.

The Foundation, called the West Central Initiative - since it focuses on that region of Minnesota - reported on "the current and future needs for water, wastewater, and storm sewer repair and replacement for the incorporated cities and one sanitary district within WCI's nine-county service area." The Star Trib tells us that "many small Minnesota towns are struggling to find the money to keep their water clean," since "many systems" rely on infrastructure "built by Depression-era work programs" that now, after 70 years or so, "are crumbling." As the report says, "The results of ignoring this situation could be disastrous."

How disastrous? "Possible consequences of delaying action, the report said, could be sewage backups, lake and stream pollution, flooding, building moratoriums, inadequate water supplies for drinking and fire protection, declining property values and people leaving town," says the newspaper.

I'm sure there have been similar studies done in your state and region. Your elected representatives should know about them.

Those "Depression-era programs," by the way, were public programs such as the Works Progress Administration, which the Library of Congress recalls this way: "The Works Progress Administration (WPA), an ambitious New Deal program, put 8,500,000 jobless to work, mostly on projects that required manual labor. With Uncle Sam meeting the payroll, countless bridges, highways and parks were constructed or repaired." As were - ahem - water treatment systems.

Maybe you want to call your elected representatives and ask them what they know about the infrastructure needs in your area and what they plan to do about it. Ask them if they might be willing to put some unemployed people in your area to work making our country more livable. It'd be interesting to see what they say, don't you think?

Find the report online