With the prospect of drought conditions as severe as the dust bowls of the 1930s this summer and with current water problems in Flint Michigan, Tampa, Florida and so many other areas in the United States, it is imperative that the first priority of the Biden Administration’s infrastructure plan is clean freshwater transfer systems to replenish aquifers that have been depleted, especially in the Midwest. This, so that in the event of severe drought conditions, the effects would be greatly reduced. It is these water transfer systems, much like the pipeline in Alaska, that would ensure there is enough clean fresh water from areas that receive enough rain or snow runoff for drought-stricken regions of the United States. If we can build oil transfer systems, surely we can do it for clean, fresh water.

If we fail to deliver and take care of this nation’s freshwater problems, no amount of stimulus payments will be enough to overcome the dire consequences of not providing enough clean freshwater for each and every area of ​​the United States. What happened in Flint Michigan and recently in Tampa, Florida are typical examples of gross negligence, lack of responsibility, and outright incompetence. There really shouldn’t be a need for a forecast of catastrophes to come or a current crisis escalating before these things become full-blown monumental disasters. However, we do it all the time before we act. And, at that point, whatever we respond to is always too little and too late with our response.

Water, water everywhere, none to drink and none to spare. Just think of all the things we take for granted today, like turning on the faucet or even flushing the toilet. Unfortunately, we are so sure that these things we do every day will always be available. Just ask the millions still suffering from deadly hurricanes, tornadoes, and manmade mistakes. When we take into account all the modern beliefs that we have today, we continue to overlook the most precious resource that this planet has. Access to clean and reliable drinking water is constantly and truly taken for granted.

For more than six months of each year, the United States faces all kinds of natural threats. Past summers’ droughts and raging wildfires, this spring’s tornadoes, and the forecast for more hurricanes are constant reminders of how fragile and vulnerable our infrastructure really is. With today’s reality, new and more frequent threats from climate-related cycles and now from our resourceful efforts to develop more sinister weapons of war keep this nation at the focal point where the impact of a single disaster would put the United States United in danger. That is until we address and implement much-needed measures that will prevent the Grim Reaper from destruction.

What everyone should know is that the water from our tap, we all take it for granted, every time we open the tap, clean and fresh water will flow. But, in most of our history it was not always so. And now, across the country, tap water is slowly and methodically being polluted and wasted. In most cities and towns in every state, what comes out of the tap is not what we think it is. In other words, the nation’s drinking water, the availability of clean and safe water, faces serious threats from sources that are less obvious than the natural disasters that continue to hit the United States.

One of the most concerning is our nation’s infrastructure. Many don’t even know that more than 15% of all public water is lost to leaks. Major pipeline breaks are estimated to occur at a rate of more than one per minute somewhere in the country. In Washington DC, major pipeline breaks occur every day. That’s in our nation’s capital! What is so alarming is that some water pipes were built more than 150 years ago. The fly in the buttermilk is that repairing and upgrading the nation’s water supply lines to standards that will withstand major disasters and effectively remove the contaminants now infecting our water will cost more than $400 billion. If we wait until another hurricane like Katrina or Sandy hits, the cost will more than double. That’s not counting all the other costs that would arise from the other contingencies associated with contaminated water, such as cholera, dysentery, and a whole host of other life-threatening diseases that arise from infected contaminated water.

Until now, our more benevolent “wizards” on Capital Hill have done nothing to address the serious nature of life’s most precious resource. In reality, the United States is financially starving our water supply and has been doing so for years. With our budget, state leaders have put monetary concerns and restrictions above the safety and health of the very people they are supposed to represent. It’s really not surprising because many of us don’t even think about water until a pipe bursts and our faucets run dry. The attitude that prevails and continues to prevail is that any repair is cheap and continued refusal to pay the actual costs only further exacerbates this ongoing crisis.

Today, our water supply is rapidly becoming contaminated with compounds that did not exist until recently. Millions of people ingest more pharmaceutical products every day. The way our for-profit health care industry is, millions more will be drawn to consume even more pharmaceuticals in the coming months and years. This may be a good time to reconsider universal health care for all Americans in order to reduce reliance on pharmaceuticals and rely instead on preventive measures.

It is known that when we consume anything, be it food or drugs, our bodies excrete waste into the sewage systems and believe it or not, many unused drugs are flushed down the toilet. Ultimately, this residue ends up in our water supply. In a recent study, evidence of more than 56 types of pharmaceuticals and more by-products was found in treated drinking water, including in metropolitan areas serving more than 40 million people. These drugs by design change the chemistry of bodies and now pose substantial health risks to the entire population. A very real and present danger lies in this nation’s water supply.

It is time to address this and implement improvements to our water supply systems to meet the necessary safety measures so that, in the event of another disaster, the people of the United States are assured of having plenty of fresh, safe drinking water. We also need to install a cross-country water transfer system to transport water to areas that need it. A safe and reliable intercontinental waterway and water supply system would restore the health of this nation and preserve our future.

With the advent of new technologies, it is quite urgent, especially after the last hurricane season, in which millions were left without power and water, our electrical grid is really in need of an immediate upgrade. Where our defense industry has developed more sinister weapons of destruction to invoke terror anywhere in the world, we now have the ability to disrupt electrical power to any target anywhere in the world. It is quite possible that others more diabolical could now use this same technology against the United States. Without light today is like being without water. Both are now essential to life as we know it.

In the age of lightning speed, the electrical energy of the Internet is essential because without it it is disastrous. What has happened in the wake of all the past hurricanes has to be a wake-up call to immediately implement the energy solutions that are now starting to drive the third industrial revolution. Investing in infrastructure now secures our future.