U.S. Water Infrastructure: Diving Into Needs and Recent Policy Developments

Authors

Joseph Kane, The Brookings Institution

Document Type

Lecture

Publication Date

10-15-2025

Publisher

Brookings Mountain West

First page number:

1

Last page number:

47

Abstract

As part of the Brookings Scholar Lecture Series, Brookings Mountain West presents a lecture titled, "U.S. Water Infrastructure: Diving Into Needs and Recent Policy Developments" by Brookings fellow in Brookings Metro, Joseph Kane. Whether providing drinking water, treating wastewater, or managing stormwater, water infrastructure in the United States spans a wide range of human-made and natural systems. In turn, the enormous scale and variety of these systems is leading to an array of challenges: aging and vulnerable infrastructure; fragmented governance and siloed planning across different geographies; a lack of financial, technical, and managerial capacity; difficulties adapting to new industrial and environmental demands; and more. In this lecture, Joseph Kane explores challenges to our regional and national water infrastructure with a focus on how federal, state, and local leaders—including utilities, policymakers, and other stakeholders—are coordinating to launch more proactive water infrastructure plans and investments in recent years.

Keywords

Water; Infrastructure; Wastewater; Utilities; Workforce; Climate; Environment

Disciplines

Economic Policy | Economics | Environmental Policy | Environmental Studies | Infrastructure | Urban Studies and Planning | Water Resource Management

File Format

pdf

File Size

6.7 MB

Run Time

01:03:30

Streaming Media

Language

English

Repository Citation

Kane, J. (2025). U.S. Water Infrastructure: Diving Into Needs and Recent Policy Developments. 1-47.
Available at: https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/brookings_lectures_events/165