Comment by rayiner

Our water infrastructure isn’t in a shambles just in shrinking cities. It’s a disaster everywhere: https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org. It’s an archetypal example of how the government is bad at setting prices. Water boards respond to public pressure, and as a result set rates too low to be sustainable in the long run: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/stretching-water-dollars-f....

> Despite the challenges posed by shrinking federal investment and rising costs, America’s water systems strive to maintain affordability. As such, many water systems have historically underpriced the services they provide to keep water rates low.

The result is a backlog in investment approaching a trillion dollars.