Nevada water utilities are telling the federal government they've got $5.6 billion worth of work to do over the next 20 years to keep plentiful and cheap tap water flowing in the nation's most arid state.
An Associated Press examination of Environmental Protection Agency data finds it could cost $384 billion nationwide just to maintain the nation's existing drinking water infrastructure during the next two decades.
Replacing pipes and treatment plants and expanding systems to handle population growth could cost $1 trillion.
Nevada is in the middle of the pack in requests.
Statewide, they include:
- $2.8 billion for pipeline and water distribution projects,
- $1.3 billion for water treatment projects,
- $1 billion for water intake structures, and
- drilled wells and spring collectors, $331 million for water storage projects.
