April 2025 Vol. 80 No. 4
Editor's Log
Editor’s Log: Miles and miles to go
By Robert Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief
(UI) — Over the past couple of years, I started receiving periodic updates from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. I also receive similar such communiques from other sewer/water/stormwater departments of major cities such as New York City, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Atlanta, etc.
The information tends to be typical public relations dribble-drabble – sometimes interesting, often puff pieces. In this day and age of communicating to the masses by any means necessary, all media is very much considered a tool for sharing a particular narrative. We generally don’t use their information unless it is specific about an underground infrastructure project or issue. But cities have learned that it can be to their advantage to aggressively share their narrative to influence public opinion.
Along with the city’s local media, industry business outlets such as digital magazines, websites, newsletters, etc. are considered key opportunities, as well, for spreading the exciting and positive stories of the work these public agencies are hustling that show what’s being done to enhance and elevate the quality of life for their citizenry. That fact that these types of outlets, like Underground Infrastructure’s digital magazine, daily newsletter and even website, interact with scores of thousands every day is a massive bonus if, on that rare occasion, we do publish their information.
That means Chicago can build a positive national reputation; New York City can highlight the wonderful things it’s are doing; LA demonstrates how it has everything under control despite the issues that area has faced in recent months. Motivations vary.
The national communication about local happenings in their sewer/water/storm water departments are filled with well-meaning intentions, but can be alarming when you look at it from a news perspective.
Which brings us back to my original Chicago example. I’ve gotten two or three notices of “Overflow Action Day Alert Issued” in the past couple of months. What the heck is that you might ask and why would I care? Well, it seems that whenever there is heavy rain expected in the “Chicagoland area,” as the release calls the region, Chicago residents are put on all kinds of alerts and advised actions to minimize results of “overflow action day.”
These suggested actions may be routine to local residents, but it makes an outsider ponder just what is Chicago doing to manage its stormwater capacity issue and why hasn’t this been resolved many years ago?
“Heavy rain is expected in the Chicagoland area. Reduce your use of water before, during and after the storm to help prevent flooding and protect water quality:
- Delay showers and baths
- Flush less frequently
- Wait to run the dishwasher or washing machine
The notice continues to explain that sewer backups and flooding can happen for a variety of reasons, such as conveyance of water flow in local pipes, the groundwater table, undersized drainage designs and roof loads, and sump pumps attached to house lines. All are standard problems faced by many cities.
But apparently, even in these modern times, Chicago’s storm drainage is still inadequate to serve the city’s needs. I would expect such problems in case of massive power failure or the collapse of a pump station. But from bad thunder storms? The great metropolis continues to lag behind the implementation of modern technology and engineering solutions to deal with frequent overflows. Often these emergencies have roots back to long-term lack of investment in their systems.
Chicago is not alone. Most major cities are struggling to come up with stormwater solutions. Funding is always hard to obtain, so cities settle for stop-gap measures to address their stormwater shortfalls and even get creative, like issuing “Overflow Action Day Alerts.”
Sadly, Chicago just repeats the story from other cities around the country that our sewer, water and stormwater systems remain woefully inadequate for their current residential baseload. Even with all the recent billions in federal dollars pumped into spending programs around the country, the fact remains that our own city managers still anticipate needing $61 billion dollars in the next five years just to keep up with their storm sewer needs. That’s on top of $342 billion in basic sewer funding shortages and $159 billion in water system needs.
Federal funding through the Infrastructure Act will run out in 2026. The many billions pumped into the sewer and water infrastructure has been a welcome blessing but overall, just a drop in the bucket. The next financial blessing will have to be generated at the state and local levels.
Unfortunately, to date, that kind of tenacity has rarely been demonstrated.
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