Column: Congress must make comprehensive investment in drinking water and wastew…

COVID-19 has wreaked havoc across the nation. Americans are struggling. Paying rent, the credit card bill, or the water bill all seems like a gamble.

Basics, like water, are more essential than ever for washing our hands, staying healthy and hydrated, cooking, and supplying our hospitals. But due to the chronic lack of federal investment, the costly burden of maintaining outdated water infrastructure is left to local utilities and, ultimately, ratepayers, leaving many without clean, affordable water in their homes.

Most American voters — 84% — support increasing federal investment to rebuild our pipes, pumps, reservoirs, treatment plants, and other facilities to ensure safe, reliable water service for all Americans, according to the Value of Water’s National Survey on Water Infrastructure. More than three in four Democrats and Republicans agree that rebuilding America’s water infrastructure should be a top priority for Congress this year.

Federal infrastructure investment is one of the government’s most powerful tools for stimulating private investment, spurring broad-based economic growth, creating good-paying jobs, and ensuring our country’s long-term global competitiveness. The economic effects of closing the water infrastructure gap is estimated to add $140 billion to national economic activity and generate and sustain an additional 760,000 well-paying jobs over a ten-year period.

Currently, the total investment gap for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure over 10…