Approaches for Improving Great Lakes Water Infrastructure - Priority Areas - regional working group

This blueprint and each layer described aims to support federal and state elected officials, state agency staff, and local leaders seeking to take advantage of the IIJA to advance and accelerate water infrastructure projects. [...] The four Priority Areas that apply to each layer of the blueprint are: (1) public health and safety, (2) community engagement and trust-building, (3) equitable distribution of investments and benefits, and (4) asset management and workforce development. [...] Whether through the supply of safe drinking water, the collection and treatment of sewage, or the management of stormwater, public health and safety is a central purpose of federal and state funding for water infrastructure systems. [...] Financing: • Use federal resources to support staffing for state and local agencies and utilities to meet people where they are and listen to where they want to be. [...] • Create and support business directories and prospective applicant portals that are both easy to access and join, to enable improved visibility of businesses capable of supporting water infrastructure construction and maintenance needs.