Underground Infrastructure - May 2023 - 9

Reclamation announced it was increasing
water allocations for the Central Valley
Project to 100% for the first time since 2017.
The move was cheered by contractors
who supply the federal water to the state's
agricultural heartland.
Three years of drought had pinched off
supplies drastically in California. Nearly the
whole state was in drought.
Iowa's Water Infrastructure
Rated 'Mediocre' by
Engineering Group
The Iowa section of the American Society
of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released the 2023
Report Card for Iowa's Infrastructure, with
13 categories of infrastructure receiving an
overall grade of " C. "
The state's drinking water and wastewater
infrastructure received grades of " C " and
" C- " and its energy and stormwater
infrastructure received grades of " C+ " and
" D+. " Its solid waste management, however,
earned a more favorable B-.
Iowa's report card highlights the age of
Iowa's infrastructure and investment needed
to improve and maintain systems crucial for
public health and safety. It also found that
severe weather events are increasing in Iowa,
and the systems that protect residents and
property are aging and aren't equipped to
handle current and future rainfall trends.
" Iowa has had the most disaster
declarations due to flooding over the past
70 years of any state, and rainfall and flooding
has increased by 20% in the last century. This
is overwhelming infrastructure systems and
decimates agricultural output, " the report said.
The categories assessed in the report
include: Aviation (C-), Bridges (D+), Dams
(D), Drinking Water (C), Energy (C+), Inland
Waterways (D+), Levees (C), Public Parks (C),
Rail (C+), Roads (B-), Solid Waste (B-),
Stormwater (D+), and Wastewater (C-).
US Cities Awarded Nearly
$200 Million in Grants
for Pipeline Upgrades
Federal officials announced the first $196
million of grants in a $1 billion program to
repair and replace aging and sometimes leaking
natural gas pipelines across the country.
The Transportation Department and its
Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration (PHMSA) announced that the city
of Las Cruces, New Mexico, will get $10 million
as the first grant recipient. Nineteen other
communities will also get grants to help upgrade
270 miles of natural gas pipelines, although the
government didn't identify all the recipients.
Another nearly $400 million of grants will be
announced later this year.
Several of the pipelines that will be repaired or
replaced were installed decades ago, and some
of them are leaking. Officials estimate that completing
these repairs will help reduce methane
emissions by roughly 212 metric tons a year. UI
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Underground Infrastructure - May 2023

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