As we reflect on 2015, the Clean Water Council would like to take a moment to express our appreciation for water infrastructure. Without it, we could not be the prosperous nation we are. Without water infrastructure we could not make foods we enjoy, help the sick become healthy in our hospitals, protect our homes and businesses from fires, produce or manufacture goods, or provide our people, businesses and country the opportunity to grow. Throughout 2015, you read here all the ways in which water infrastructure affects our lives and, most disturbingly, all the ways this country’s leadership has failed its citizens by continuing to ignore the vast impacts of a deteriorating and aging water infrastructure system. Clean Water Weekly published news stories of the failures resulting from this neglect from all 50 states, proving how the broad severity of this problem touches every American. Over the course of 52 weeks, you read on this blog an incredibly wide range of issues concerning the deterioration of our water infrastructure.

Fortunately, we’ve been able to report some good news and signs of improvement. We’ve written about a few law changes on the federal level, several state-based initiatives to finance new water infrastructure projects, and reports of projects being undertaken to repair, replace, or construct new water infrastructure. We’ve grown the following of this blog by several multiples, indicating a growing interest in pertinent, reliable information about water infrastructure developments. Continuing to heighten awareness of our country’s critical need to address our crumbling water infrastructure will remain CWC’s top priority in 2016.

In the coming year, CWC will continue to mobilize support for investing in water infrastructure. We will continue to be a champion on Capitol Hill. We will continue to seek greater investment in water infrastructure, whether by innovative financing mechanisms like Private Activity Bonds, or through more traditional avenues of funding such as appropriations for the EPA’s State Revolving Fund. We will continue to bring you weekly updates on water infrastructure failures, investments, and developments.

CWC wishes all of our Clean Water Weekly subscribers a safe, healthy, and joy-filled Christmas and New Year’s. It has been our privilege to keep you informed on clean water issues this year, and we look forward to doing the same in 2016. Happy holidays!