National Priorities: Life Cycle Costs of Water Infrastructure Alternatives

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One of the high-priority research areas identified by the EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) is stormwater runoff. Under the 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act (CWA), the EPA established a program to address storm water discharges including the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program which regulates point sources such as pipes and sewers that discharge directly into surface waters. Under the CWA, communities need to address stormwater management requirements as they consider their aging water infrastructure systems, rate payer expectations, and other considerations important to the community. Green infrastructure is an emerging technology with much potential to help many communities. Research is needed to assist communities throughout the United States in evaluating whether to invest in green infrastructure that can improve stormwater management in multiple ways, including reducing the volume of stormwater entering the sewer system to decrease the costs of grey infrastructure updates, and by managing stormwater runoff as a resource, not a waste, to enhance scarce water supplies. The EPA currently supports a number of research grants from previous solicitations on performance and effectiveness of green infrastructure. Information regarding current and prior research can be found on ORD’s National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) web site.

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