The Wastewater Treatment Plant as Ward of the State

The current ASCE Leadership and Management in Engineering Journal has a special section on development sprawl and growth. All of the articles are very good.  The best is Suburban Ponzi Scheme by Charles Marohn, P.E., AICP. Marohn does a great job of discussing the connection between development, asset management, sustainability, and financial management at the local level.  According to Marohn, the American city is unique is routinely trading nominal near-term cash advantages associated with new growth for far greater long-term financial obligations of maintenance. 

This is an important issue that engineering needs to think harder about.  From the article:

"This strategy is a disaster of monumental proportions for the United States.  Not only have we created an entire economy based on a growth model that cannot be sustained, in the process we have highly indebted our population.  The quality employment opportunities available for the masses rely solely on the perpetuation of this unsustainable model, so we cannot even work our way out of this mess.  We have tied up our individual wealth into homes - homes whose value is tied to community infrastructure that we cannot afford to maintain without continued hyper-growth, which we are now powerless to induce.  So as our wealth disappears and our economy painfully grinds to a halt, we are left with not options to continues on this path."

The huge problem of asset management is clearly visible in this simple example that Marohn outlined:

"A small town received support to build a sewer system from the federal government back in the 1960s as part of a community investment program.  Additional support was given in the 1980s to rehabilitate the system.  Today, the system needs complete replacement at a cost of $3.3 million.  this is roughly $27,000 per family, which is also the city's median household income.  Without massive public subsidy, this city cannot maintain its basic infrastructure.  It is, essentially, a ward of the state."

As you set on the toilet and think about your sewer system, your city streets are another example of the fiscal hole we call asset management.  From the article:

"An urban street section is in need of repair, which will require milling up and replacing the bituminous surface.  The development along the street as stagnated for decades in favor of new growth on the periphery of town.  Thus, over the estimated life of the new street, the city expects to collect a total of $27/ft for road repairs.  Depending on the alternative chosen, the cost for repairs is estimated to be between $80/ft and $100/ft."