Print      
N.Y. governor seeks $2b to fix pipes
Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. — Governor Andrew Cuomo wants $2 billion to address some of the nation’s oldest water and sewer systems — and while that sounds like a lot of money, it’s far short of what the state’s experts say is truly required.

They say it would actually cost $80 billion in the coming years to replace crumbling water mains, modernize sewer systems, and remove lead pipes.

Many of the state’s water systems began wearing out long ago. The Erie County Water Authority had 1,453 water main breaks in 2015. There were nearly 400 the same year in Syracuse, where local officials calculated last year that they will need $726 million to fix 550 miles of pipe.

In New York City, an estimated 20 percent of the treated water that enters municipal pipes leaks out before it makes it to a faucet.

Associated Press