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Environmental Group Calls for $2.5 Billion to Rebuild Water Infrastructure

Environmental Advocates of New York

A call for more state funding to keep water safe and healthy addresses big problems we see here in Syracuse. Environmental Advocates of New York is joining other health and conservation groups in calling for $2.5 billion for water infrastructure grants.

Environmental Advocates’ Rob Hayes is worried Governor Cuomo made an empty promise when he agreed to this investment in his State of the State address.

However, when you actually examine the governor budget bills, that $2.5 billion was nowhere to be found. In fact, he only allocated $500 million in new water funding in this year’s budget; the rest of that $2 billion is left up as a promise. Now we believe, the communities really need the certainty that the money will be there for them in a long term.”

There’s an existing program giving out grants to cities, towns and villages for water-system projects.  But Hayes wrote a study that finds more than twice the need to fix drinking water and sewer infrastructure than money available. These aren’t just financial concerns. Hayes notes people in the Syracuse area are often affected by the consequences of poor infrastructure.

Credit Environmental Advocates of New York
Crews on the scene of a water main break.

“When a water main bursts, the pressure decreases and contaminants have the opportunity to seep into water, and that water go straight to people’s taps.  With combined sewage overflows, we noted they are a larger contributor to harmful algal blooms, which not only devastated aquatic life where they happened, but make it very dangerous for swimming or for being in contact with the water.”

This winter, Syracuse has seen its share of water main breaks while area lakes have been fouled by algal blooms. Hayes adds water projects not only create jobs, but also lay a sound economic foundation to attract businesses and residents.  The groups are calling for a budget measure to spend $2.5 billion on water projects over the next five years. 

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.