- [Ward] On the next "Great Lakes Now."

Parts of our region's water infrastructure are crumbling.

- I pray that this will last three years.

That is the best I can do.

- [Ward] Fixing it won't be cheap.

- It takes money to solve problems.

- [Ward] But for many paying the water bill is already a challenge.

- This is just something that you're not really gonna recover from.

- [Ward] Digging into water's true cost.

- [Narrator] This program is brought to you by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation.

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

The Consumers Energy Foundation is committed to serving Michigan from preserving our state's natural resources and sustaining our future to continuing business growth, academic achievement and community involvement.

Learn more at consumersenergy.com/foundation.

The Richard C. Devereaux Foundation for Energy and Environmental Programs at DPTV.

The Polk Family Fund.

Eve & Jerry Jung.

The Americana Foundation.

The Brookby Foundation.

Founders Brewing Company.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.

- Hi, I'm Ward Detwiler, welcome back to "Great Lakes Now."

This program is part of Water's True Cost.

An independent journalism project by The Great Lakes News Collaborative supported in part by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

One topic the project covers is the underfunding of systems we expect to deliver clean, safe drinking water.

Bridge Michigan's Kelly House brings us a story beginning in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

- [Nick] Benton Harbor is a city of about 9,000 people near the mouth of the St. Joseph river.

In October of 2021 state officials advised Benton Harbor residents to drink only bottled water because the tap water contained high levels of lead.

Kelly House reported on the city's water crisis for Bridge Michigan.

- Benton Harbor is the latest community in our state to face a water crisis that if you, you know, take it back to its beginning, stems from in many ways inadequate investment in the water system.

- [Nick] But at the root of the water crisis was a money crisis.

Elevated lead levels first showed up in the samples three years earlier in 2018.

But solving the problem would take money and the city didn't have any.

Benton Harbor mayor Marcus Muhammad was elected in 2015.

He says the city's been looking for financial help since the problem arose.

- We didn't know how much or how, you know, great the depth of the problem was in terms of financially.

We just knew we needed money.

We started out with $284,000 in 2018 which was a grant from the state.

We know that this is not a $284,000 problem.

- [Nick] The city also sought grant money from the EPA and applied for a low interest loan.

But in 2021, as residents waited in line for bottled water, the mayor faced an obvious question.

(forklift beeping) - "Why haven't you solved this problem?"

And I think that out of this story, you're gonna find, and when we look across the state that local governments cannot survive without the help of state and federal government supporting.

And at the end of the day it takes money to solve problems.

- [Nick] But many communities that have more money than Benton Harbor have nevertheless underfunded their water systems for years.

Now, they're scrambling to head off problems like Benton Harbor had.

And like Benton Harbor, they might need financial help.

- So, what happens here in Benton Harbor is going to project itself throughout the State of Michigan and from my opinion, throughout this country.

- [Nick] A short drive from Benton Harbor north of long Lake Michigan's shoreline is South Haven.

It's a charming lakefront community and it's been a popular vacation spot for 100 years.

Bill Hunter is the Director of Public Works for the City of South Haven.

- We have over 100 miles of water main and I wanna say approximately 60 miles of sewer.

We serve over 11,000 people in the system.

- [Nick] The South Haven Area Water Sewer Authority serves several local communities.

It's water filtration plant was completed in 2011, but while the plant is relatively new, in many cases the pipes that carry water to South Haven customers are not.

- This is an example of our water main, first water main installed.

They made 'em outta wood.

There's some municipalities actually that still had this in the ground in the 80s and in the 90s.

So, this was actually still used, not in this community.

- Can you gimme a profile of how old South Haven's water system is?

- The age of the system of course depends on the community.

The oldest system is the City of South Haven.

That system ranges anywhere from 1930s to 2000s.

The majority of it is in the 19, World War II era, pre World War II era.

- [Nick] Why hasn't the aging infrastructure buried throughout our communities been replaced?

Largely because price hikes are unpopular.

So, elected officials in South Haven and elsewhere often chose to keep rates low.

Too low to cover necessary maintenance and replacement costs.

It's gone on for decades in part Hunter thinks, because the water systems we rely on are mostly underground.

Invisible.

- Our infrastructure is everything is buried.

You don't see it.

I call it sight unseen.

You can repave a road, people see roads.

It's nice, black, everything looks great.

Underneath there the infrastructure is 40 years old.

Electrical is another.

You can see the electric poles and the lines.

Everything is existing up out of the ground, so you can see it.

Ours is, I like to say it's kind of buried in the back.

Nobody sees it so not a problem.

It's not a problem until the spigot stops working, then it's a problem or you can't flush your toilet.

And then it's too late.

- [Nick] This is one place where water infrastructure is very visible.

- That was supposed to be something to get them by.

- [Nick] It's the South Haven Area Water Sewer Authorities oldest water storage tank.

- Let's just stay away from this area.

- [Nick] It was built more than a century ago and it's still a key part of the system.

Despite obvious deterioration.

- It looks pretty bad.

Is this as bad as it looks?

- This is as bad as it looks.

It's probably worse.

I'm not sure what's going on in the inside of it, just watching it buckle out.

People ask me, "Well, how long will it last?"

If it fails tomorrow, I would not be surprised.

- [Kelly] And what happens if it fails?

- If this fails, we're not going to meet fire flow demands plus we're probably gonna have boiled water.

Meaning constantly people are gonna have boiled water advisory so they're not gonna be able to consume the water.

They would be able to wash with it and bathe but not drink it.

- [Nick] Hunter says concerns about this tank go back around 20 years.

But instead of replacing it officials chose to put a roof on it and add an outer layer of concrete which is now falling off.

- It should've been only something to get you by five years, but we've pressed it over 20.

Now we're at a critical point to where they make no guarantees.

Like I said, it could fail tomorrow and I wouldn't be surprised.

- How long does this thing need to last.

- This needs to last, at least the next, hopefully the next three years.

We established the new rates.

And now I'm in discussion with a bond council to start the bond process to get loans.

Once we have the loans and then we're going to start the process of getting a design together and going out for bids and taking the steps to eliminate this.

But three years I would say, easy.

- [Nick] With problems like this literally looming, in 2018 area communities created the Water Authority hoping it's appointed board members would make smart financial decisions.

In March of 2022, the board approved four years of 4.5% annual rate increases to shore up finances and pay for much needed maintenance.

But is it already too late?

- What's the over under on this lasting three years?

- I pray that this will last three years.

That is the best I can do.

And this is just a visual of probably what a lot of infrastructure looks like in the ground except it's elevated, this is a prime example.

- [Nick] And the cost of catching up on years of deferred maintenance can be shocking.

- What are you looking at in terms of the repair tab that needs to be addressed at some point?

- $84 Million.

Now that plan should be $84 million at 25 years.

We can't afford $84 million in 25 years.

So, I had to create a 40 year plan to make it more affordable.

It's not even something the American Waterworks Association or the State of Michigan actually recommends.

I'm dealing now where I'm pushing things out well past the time they should have been replaced.

- [Nick] In the years to come, towns like Benton Harbor, South Haven and many other Michigan communities will get financial help from the state and federal governments.

Benton Harbor will get $45 million for infrastructure improvements including the replacement of all the city's lead service lines.

According to the city's online dashboard, that project is well on its way to completion.

City officials say the job will be finished by spring of 2023.

Other cities are hoping for funds to pay for their deferred maintenance.

In South Haven, Hunter is grateful but still concerned.

- It's great, actually.

They're talking about now, infrastructure bills.

I mean, that is a great thing.

And I applaud any of our elected officials for doing that, but it's still, and I don't wanna sound, is it enough?

No, I don't think, not with the magnitude.

I mean, you're talking trillions and trillions of dollars.

- [Nick] In the end, the money needed to keep our water systems running will come from us, either through our water bills or our taxes.

- What should be the takeaway lesson from this standpipe that we're looking at today as it relates to the broader questions about our infrastructure?

- Well, you can only push things out so far.

And how I look at it is you're pushing it out to our grandkids.

That's what we're doing.

Right now it's benefiting us 'cause we're having lower prices, but eventually our grandkids are gonna be reaping the rewards of maybe the highest water costs ever.

Because they're gonna have to pay for this.

- For more about water infrastructure and the cost of fixing it, visit greatlakesnow.org/waters-true-cost.

Of course, water system operators aren't the only ones with budget worries.

In many households paying the bills is a challenge.

Water bills included.

Circle of Blue's Brett Walton has been looking into water affordability in Southeast Michigan.

- [Laura] When you look around the Great Lakes it seems water is everywhere.

But for many households in the region water is getting more expensive and less affordable.

Brett Walton, a reporter for Circle of Blue has done extensive reporting on water affordability in Southeast Michigan.

- Water affordability wasn't a big issue until about two decades ago.

And that's because for the longest time water was relatively cheap.

But in the last couple of decades we've seen the price of water going up faster than almost any household good.

- [Laura] Over the past four decades the cost of telephone service, natural gas and electricity have all gone up and so has the Consumer Price Index.

But the rise in water prices outpaces them all.

- Comparatively it's still cheaper than electricity or some other things, but it's going up faster than others.

And that's because the infrastructure we put into the ground 50, 100 years ago is aging out.

It's gotten to the point where it's at the end of its life and it needs to be replaced.

And that is expensive infrastructure.

- [Lauren] A report from the University of Michigan published last year found that between 1980 and 2018 average water prices across the State of Michigan nearly doubled when adjusted for inflation.

In some cities the increase was even larger.

Low income households were hit the hardest.

Oakland County is one of the wealthiest counties in Michigan, but many county residents struggle to pay their water bills.

Jim Nash is Oakland County's Water Resources Commissioner.

- Royal Oak Township is probably our poorest community in the county.

And it actually has some of the highest water bills.

There's is over $100 a month on average.

So, there is significant issues in that community.

- [Laura] Nash estimates that about 55% of households in Royal Oak Township spend more than 4% of their income on water and sewer services.

- [Jim] Water is unaffordable to them.

Pontiac it's about 35%.

- [Laura] Oakland County is working on a state funded water affordability plan for both Pontiac and Royal Oak Township.

They're hoping it'll become a blueprint that other communities can adapt to their own systems.

The plan has two parts.

One, to assist those who find the average bill to be a financial burden.

And the second, to help those in emergency situations like job loss or unexpected medical expenses.

- When it comes to people who have just chronic inability to pay, what we wanna do is have kind of a graded billing system where if the very poorest folks, half the poverty rate, would only pay like 30 or $35 a month.

In Pontiac it's about $85 a month or $85 is the average bill.

So, this would dramatically lower that bill.

50 to 100% of poverty would be maybe $45 a month.

And we're developing this so we're not fixed yet.

But that's the kind of thing we're doing.

We wanna have levels of service for folks who have real significant issues paying.

- [Laura] The county's plan will also address people whose water bill jumps unexpectedly because of a leak or an undetected plumbing issue.

- The next bill is a $1,000 dollars instead of, you know, 80.

We wanna be able to come in and once they've shown that they've fixed the leak, then we can maybe give them credit for that water.

Right now we only give them, we give the wholesale cost of the water.

So, they save some but not whole bunch.

So, we're trying to set up a system we can do that.

And then people who have issues, you know?

Who have medical or health issues or you know, car accidents.

Find a way of local assistance that the, you know, the local community can help with that, you know?

A community foundation, things like that.

So we can, where we wanna work with those folks.

- [Laura] Outdated plumbing is a real issue.

Something as simple as a dripping hose spigot or a toilet that won't stop running can lead to shockingly high bills.

Water affordability is an even bigger problem just south of Oakland County in Wayne County.

The most populated county in Michigan, which includes the city of Detroit.

Megan Wilk is with the Wayne Metropolitan Community Action Agency.

- A lot of times the residents that come in have just really large bills from a small leak or something existing with their plumbing.

Maybe they're in an old home and the plumbing's just deteriorating and they don't have the money to make the fixes.

So, the bill just continues to get higher each month.

They get late fees tacked onto that.

- [Laura] Megan showed us a bill from one of her clients.

The total due was staggering, close to $15,000.

- Looking at the bill right now, the usage is very low.

It's below average for a single person living in the home.

So, it tells me right now they probably don't have any leaks.

But at one point there was probably a leak or something big structurally that was going on to make the bill go up this high.

This is just something that you're not really gonna recover from.

Like, you're stuck with this bill, you know, for years and paying your current charges, if you're already struggling to pay your current charges for the month and then you have this past due balance of $15,000 that you have to take care of, even enrolling in a payment plan arrangement, it's still gonna be unaffordable for you.

- When water's unaffordable and people don't pay their bill, miss their payment, the worst case scenario is that your water gets shut off.

And that happens all too frequently in cities.

Not everyone shuts water off for nonpayment, but most do in order to compel residents to pay for service.

So, when your water is unaffordable you get things like in Detroit, you know, in 2011 to 2020 where there were massive water shutoffs.

Tens of thousands of people losing access to water and then spiraling into community problems, health problems, social problems, potential for children to be taken away through CPS.

So, it is a very real, very severe community crisis.

- [Laura] To address health concerns during the pandemic, the U.S. government created the Low Income Household's Water Assistance Program and appropriated 1.1 billion dollars to fund it.

Michigan's share was 36.2 million dollars but it's estimated that Michigan households owe around 252 million dollars in unpaid water bills.

So, the federal money is just a drop in the bucket.

According to Commissioner Nash, there will be no long term solution to the problem of water affordability without greater state and federal assistance.

- We wanna have local water systems do as much as they can but the state and federal should be helping us do that because they're the ones that should be guaranteeing the rights of Americans.

And that's how I see that.

And what we do, that's why we're pushing the legislation in Lansing to have them set up a program for helping local communities do this.

And I think that's gonna be our long term answer.

Is getting this recognized as a human right and the state and federal government's involved in guaranteeing those rights.

That's the most important thing we can do.

We can't just put all the burden on the local rate payers.

It just can't work in the long term.

It's not sustainable.

- Visit greatlakesnow.org/ waters-true-cost for more about water affordability.

And now it's time for "The Catch" which takes you around the Great Lakes to hear from reporters about the issues they're covering.

This month we're featuring stories from our partners in the Great Lakes News Collaborative.

- [Anna] In some inland lakes in Northern Michigan plant life and E. coli are showing up in previously crystal clear water.

Michigan Radio's Lester Graham of "The Environment Report" recently spoke with nearby residents about the causes.

- Some people want to blame agriculture.

Some people want to blame other sources like goose poop, for example.

But in reality it's likely coming from faulty septic systems.

And there are an estimated 300,000 faulty septic systems throughout the state, not just the lake communities, but throughout the state.

- [Anna] And Michigan is the only state without a statewide sanitary code.

- We don't have regular inspections.

We don't have requirements beyond what the health department requires.

So, it's a problem that we really haven't grappled with as of yet.

- [Anna] Faulty septic systems can contaminate groundwater and make it risky to swim in nearby lakes and rivers.

- I saw one community that was actually you go down to the river and there's a pipe that toilet paper is coming out of.

It had a big fan shape.

And it's really awful.

- [Anna] The cost of fixing a faulty septic system often falls on individual homeowners.

- A low ball price is about $10,000.

It can get a lot higher.

But if it's $10,000, that's $3 billion in repairs and the state, you know, and the recent influx of federal money we've been getting set aside something like 45 million.

So, we've got a massive problem.

And even with big federal dollars coming in we are not gonna fix it.

- [Anna] In Toronto, environmental reporter, Andrew Reeves is covering Canada's history of water infrastructure development.

- After the Second World War there was a big push for developing new communities in the greater Toronto area in particular.

and we spent a lot of money investing in this infrastructure.

But eventually into the 1970s and early 1980s, that investment basically went off a cliff.

And so we've been living off of the investments that our grandparents have made even through to today.

- [Anna] Just as the Flint water crisis spurred U.S. officials to action, a water crisis in Walkerton, Ontario in the year 2000 in which seven people died after the town's drinking water was contaminated with E. coli, drove Ontario's government to make changes.

- Now, that really kicked the provincial government and local governments into realizing that the unthinkable could actually happen and that drinking water wouldn't be safe for anyone to consume.

And so after Walkerton you see a dramatic increase in the volume of investment that was made, not just in drinking water, but also in waste water as well.

- [Anna] Of course, that investment has to be paid for, so water rates are rising.

- Even though Ontario pays pretty small water rates overall, when we're seeing these four or 5% increases year over year it all adds up in a pretty unsustainable way.

- [Anna] With a growing population in Southern Ontario the need for safe drinking water is only increasing.

But as in the U.S. funding is often complicated by politics.

- If we're willing to raise taxes or implement storm water charges we can have a robust and resilient system but that ends up being sometimes a tricky question when politicians get elected often promising to keep taxes low.

And that's something that we've seen here in Ontario quite a lot.

- [Anna] In Chicago, journalist, Laura Gersony is rolling out a new biweekly offering from Circle of Blue called, "Fresh: a Great Lakes Policy Briefing."

- Water policy affects everybody.

But the Great Lakes region specifically is at the center of some of the biggest stories of our time, infrastructure challenges, water quality environment, you name it and behind all of these issues, lie policy.

Part of what we're hoping to do with "Fresh" is really demystify these complex stories to make them accessible both to policy experts and to average citizens.

- [Anna] One story Laura's following is centered on the Canadian Federal Budget.

- For the first time in years the Canadian government has plans to fully fund the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, which is an organization whose purpose is to support the science that guides fishery management in the U.S. and Canada.

So, this story gets to what I think is so unique about Great Lakes policy, which is that it doesn't neatly map onto the typical boundaries that we associate with policy making.

It's binational involving the U.S. and Canada.

It also involves five states.

So, these are policy issues that require a unique degree of cooperation which is what I think makes these stories so interesting.

- Thanks for watching.

Visit greatlakesnow.org/waters-true-cost for more from Water's True Cost.

An independent journalism project by the Great Lakes News Collaborative.

Supported in part by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

When you get there you can follow us on social media or subscribe to our newsletter to get updates about our work.

See you out on the lakes.

(upbeat music) - [Narrator] This program is brought to you by the Fred A. and Barbara M. Erb Family Foundation.

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

The Consumers Energy Foundation is committed to serving Michigan.

From preserving our state's natural resources and sustaining our future to continuing business growth, academic achievement and community involvement.

Learn more at consumersenergy.com/foundation.

The Richard C. Devereaux Foundation for Energy and Environmental Programs at DPTV.

The Polk Family Fund.

Eve and Jerry Jung.

The Americana Foundation.

The Brookby Foundation.

Founders Brewing Company.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.

(piano jingle)