As I wrote in a recent post, there is an enormous funding gap between clean water needs to repair and upgrade our crumbling sewer systems and current spending on wastewater infrastructure. And now, the gap just got even bigger. EPA reports that global warming will cause increased storms in some regions, which will lead to more frequent combined sewer overflows (CSOs) in the Great Lakes and New England regions. More frequent CSOs means that more money than anticipated will be needed to close the gap as treatment plants will have to work even harder to meet clean water standards.

The good news? In March, Congress jumped the first hurdle to reauthorizing the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (SRF) when the House passed the Water Quality Financing Act of 2007. The bill would authorize $14 billion over 5 years to fix sewer systems, upgrade treatment, and reduce stormwater runoff into sewer pipes. If passed by the Senate and then fully appropriated (a whole other fight), this would increase funding for North Carolina, for example, from $19 million in 2007 to $90 million in 2011. The bill was further strengthened with an amendment to prioritize problems from existing treatment plants, rather than subsidizing sprawl by funding new collection systems.

So it's on to the Senate where you would think that passing a bill to provide more money for clean water should be pretty straightforward - let's hope they mind the gap.