Last week, the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management released its Capital Improvement Program (CIP) plan, designed to forecast system needs over a five-year period. The proposed plan totals nearly $1.06 billion and identifies requirements for sustaining, restoring and modernizing water infrastructure.

Despite filing a notice of intent to sue last month, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said Friday the city has no intention of suing the State of Michigan, but the filing was necessary for technical reasons to guard the city’s rights in case Flint needs to sue the state in the future.

New technology solutions are being introduced to the U.S. market to address water loss, including one revolutionary method that detects non-revenue water leaks by analyzing spectral images from satellites.

In 2008, the Groundwater Replenishment System (GWRS) made history as the largest water purification and reuse project of its kind in the world. In 2015, the GWRS made history again as its Initial Expansion came online, providing an additional 30 million gallons of water per day (MGD) to the Orange County Groundwater Basin.

There have been many questions raised in recent months about what the water sector can learn from the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Some would say the crisis, while a nightmare for the residents of Flint, has reinvigorated the discussion around the importance of our water systems, whether it’s aging infrastructure, management of water treatment practices or the obvious funding gap that exists for needed projects.

Few people need to be reminded of water’s importance. Along with energy, it is essential for everyday life. Water provides sustenance, supports industry and irrigates fields. But city administrations are struggling to meet rising demand from growing populations while contending with issues such as water quality, flooding, drought and aging infrastructure.

Since its creation in 1972, the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District has made great strides in updating the region’s sewer infrastructure, investing $4 billion in wastewater treatment plants, interceptor and relief sewers, combined sewer overflow control, and other facility upgrades.

In February, the Obama Administration announced its Fiscal Year 2017 budget for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which lays out a strategy to ensure that steady progress is made in addressing known environmental problems and ensuring the agency and its partners in environmental protection, states and tribes are positioned to meet the challenges of the future.

The EPA has announced the award of $12.7 million in grants to help small drinking and wastewater systems and private well owners located in urban and rural communities throughout the United States and its territories. The water systems will receive training and technical assistance to improve small system operations and management practices, promote system sustainability and better protect public health and the environment.

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies, the Water Environment Research Foundation, and the Water Environment Federation collectively hatched the Utility of the Future (UOTF) concept in 2013 in The Water Resources Utility of the Future: A Blueprint for Action.