Quantifying the Economic and Employment Impacts of Water

With severe drought plaguing the Southwestern United States, and buckling water infrastructure long overdue for upgrades throughout the country, Brookings Institution's Joseph Kane and Robert Puentes take a closer look at the quantified effects of this fundamental element on the American economy.

In a blog post, Kane and Puentes mention their recent report, which illustrates how, "more than 700,000 U.S. workers are involved in designing, constructing, operating and governing water infrastructure. Plant operators, pipe layers and hydrologists, for instance, are among the most critical occupations to implement new technologies, upgrade systems and oversee regulations."

Moreover, a new report, published by both the Water Research Foundation (WRF) and the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF), seconds the findings of water's influence on the economy. The report "estimates that 30 utilities alone support 289,000 jobs and $52 billion in output through their annual spending. Across their operating and capital budgets, these water utilities are expected to pump billions of additional dollars into managing and constructing a host of new projects during the next decade."

Municipalities should not view upgrades to water infrastructure as a daunting challenge, but rather as an opportunity to collaborate with private partners and spur job growth from the ground up.