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The Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (“ASDWA”) issued a report titled:

Beyond Tight Budgets: 2018 Resource Demands Analysis for State Drinking Water Programs (“Report”)

ASDWA states that it conducted a 2018 State Resources Demand Analysis to “better capture the extent of the additional resource demands” (referencing demands from non-regulatory activities such as post-Flint Lead and Copper Rule oversight, algal toxins, per- and-polyfuoroalkyl substances, Legionella and State Drinking Water Information Systems Prime application).

The Report notes that U.S. states and territories (except Wyoming) operate drinking water programs that are responsible for ensuring approximately 150,000 public water systems comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act National Primary Drinking Water Regulations. It characterizes such drinking water programs as “chronically underfunded” which constrains their ability to protect public health. The challenge is stated to be exacerbated by the fact that there has been no increase in federal funding over the past decade while inflation has increased during the same time period by 20 percent.

ASDWA undertook an analysis in which it asked the states to estimate the hours its members expended for the additional demands for the previously referenced non-regulatory activities. Twenty-five states responded, noting workload increases ranging from 1.1 to 12.5 percent beyond their current level activity. Extrapolating all 50 states, the Report notes a national estimate of demand in 2018 of 307,824 hours or 148 full time equivalents.

The Report concludes that a growing demand for state drinking water programs highlights “the need for either additional funding or a reallocation of resources.”

A copy of the Report can be found here.