By Rich Anderson
July 14, 2008

Fayetteville (AR) Mayor Dan Coody said local government spent $82 billion in Fiscal Year 2005 for water and sewer; up from $45 billion in FY1992. Over the period FY1992 through FY2005 local government spent a combined total of $841 billion for water and sewer. He stated that this enormous infrastructure investment dwarfs the one to 1.5 percent contribution from state government, and the less than one percent contribution from the federal government. Cities can expect an average of five percent growth in spending each year; and even with such increases there will still be a significant "Needs Gap" to rehabilitate the aging water and sewer infrastructure.

Mayors can also expect additional cost pressures related to adapting public water and wastewater infrastructure to reduce their carbon footprint. Setting targets for carbon reductions have been difficult because information on how much carbon emissions are involved has been lacking until now.

Coody stated that we now have some benchmark information concerning wastewater greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) that will allow cities to determine what reductions can be made. He cited a U.S. EPA study that provides a breakdown of the GHGs associated with municipal wastewater treatment plants, of which there are over 16,000 of in the US, (Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2006, April 15, 2008, EPA – 430 – R – 08 – 005).

The EPA Report states that global GHG emissions were 35.9 billion metric tons in 2000. U.S. GHG emissions were 7.0 billion metric tons for that year; about 20 percent of global emissions. U.S. GHG emissions grew from 6.1 billion metric tons in 1990 to 7.1 billion metric tons in 2006.

EPA reports that direct GHG emissions from municipal wastewater treatment operations in the U.S. are comprised mainly of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (NO2). Total GHG emissions from this sector were 29.3 million metric tons in 1990, (methane emissions were 23 million metric tons; and nitrous oxide emissions were 6.3 million metric tons). In 2006 total GHG emissions from this sector grew to 32 million metric tons (methane emissions were 23.9 million metric tons; and nitrous oxide emissions were 8.1 million metric tons).

Coody pointed out that while there has been modest growth in GHG emissions from municipal wastewater operations they have not kept pace with overall growth in GHG emissions. This sector, he said, is still less than one-half of one percent of overall GHG emissions in the U.S.

Albuquerque (NM) Mayor Martin J. Chávez, Co-Chair of the Mayors Water Council, joined Coody’s invitation to the Conference of Mayors members to participate in the Mayors Water Summit October 1-2, in Palm Beach (FL) where they will hold a workshop on benchmarking municipal wastewater GHG emissions and discussing strategies for reducing them.