The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) has published a fact sheet on the top ten extreme rain and flood events that occurred in the U.S. this year and their impacts to water infrastructure.

Some of the events on the fact sheet include: the combined 1,000-year flood and rainfall events in Kentucky that caused $16.8 million damage to water infrastructure; Hurricane Ian that caused an estimated $60 billion in damage overall and caused at least a dozen wastewater treatment plants to release raw or partially untreated sewage and led to numerous boil water notices; and a 1,000-year rain event in Jackson, Mississippi that served to exacerbate an existing infrastructure failure and cause an estimated $1 billion in damage. As these and other events described on the fact sheet reveal, 2022 has been a historic year in terms of terms of natural disasters and has reflected the increasing effects of climate change and the resilience challenges it brings. For the utilities that have been in the path of these events, they have shown that more investments are needed to prepare infrastructure not just for the present but also the future. NACWA released the fact sheet as part of a national news conference to draw attention to these events and the need for more investments, including through additional funding from the federal government. Access the fact sheet and read a press release at NACWA.