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infrastructure <br />BV JOHN E. CROMWELL III, ELISA SPERANZA, <br />AND HAYDN REYNOLDS <br />The Infrastructure <br />~~ <br /> ~~~~ <br /> <br /> n 2005, AWWA's Water Utility Council commissioned the authors to <br />US WATER UTILITIES ARE AT develop a report (AWWA, 2006) that would clarify the infrastructure issue <br /> and motivate local actions to address the issue. The primary objectives <br />A TURNING POINT. UTILITY were to (1) articulate the true nature of the need for infrastructure stew- <br />MANAGERS AND GOVERNING ardship via asset management and (2) help water utilities convey this need, <br /> both internally and externally, to governing bodies, customers, and other stake- <br />BOARD MEMBERS MUST MAKE holders. This article is derived, in part, from that report. <br /> Much has been written about the infrastructure "crisis." Coverage of the <br />CRITICAL REINVESTMENT issue began with publication of America in Ruins (Choate & Walter, 1981), <br />DECISIONS NOW TO ENSURE Which used images of ancient Roman ruins to frame the infrastructure issue as <br /> an imminent crisis. Many other studies of the nation's infrastructure crisis followed. <br />THAT THE UNITED STATES In addition, the media continues to use catastrophic images and provocative <br /> headlines when covering infrastructure issues. These presentations convey the mes- <br />CONTINUES TO HAVE THE FINEST sage that the damage is done and US cities are already in ruins. This character- <br />WATER SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD. ization exaggerates reality-and, ironically, is not consistent with the proper <br /> definition of the word "crisis." <br /> According to Merriam-Ik%bsters Collegiate Dictionary (2006), a crisis is a <br /> "turning point," a key juncture at which decisive action must be taken to avoid <br /> damage or harm. Used correctly, crisis is actually a good word for characterizing <br /> the nation's existing infrastructure situation. <br />CROMWELL ET AL I 99:4 JOURNAL AWWA ~ APRIL 2007 109 <br />