TFTT Report

In an op-ed posted today in the Press of Atlantic City, Michael Deane called out the combative rhetoric against private water companies being used by Food and Water Watch as Atlantic City considers options for its water utility as part of a conversation on the city’s long-term financial solvency.  Deane urged a full and fair consideration of all options, including partnering with a private water utility, and urged residents and decision makers to disregard Food & Water Watch’s scare tactics, made-up facts, inappropriate comparisons and flawed analysis. Read the op-ed below:

Atlantic City is in the midst of a critical conversation about its long-term financial solvency, with headlines in this newspaper such as “Surrounding mayors call for Atlantic City Bankruptcy” and “Atlantic City will consider bankruptcy filing at emergency meeting.”

A central part of the debate is consideration of the city’s water utility. Should the city take it over? The county? Should a private utility partner be brought in? These are all options that deserve fair and full consideration. Atlantic City’s financial struggles are very real, and it is disheartening to see activist groups like Food & Water Watch use scare tactics to stymie solutions as the city considers its long-term financial future.

What Atlantic City does not need right now is a group like Food & Water Watch masquerading its opinions as facts. As the late great senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, said, “everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”

Let’s not forget that Food & Water Watch is an ideologically driven, Washington, D.C.-based activist group with exactly zero experience in managing a water system. The group, which is largely funded by anonymous donors, employs zero people with water-focused post-graduate degrees or professional experience in water delivery. Yes, they are certainly entitled to their own opinions about what Atlantic City should do, but by no means should their opinions be interpreted as facts.

Yet, time and time again, Food & Water Watch spouts off fundamentally flawed “facts” about private water rates, even trying to pass off their own “studies” and “reports” as credible evidence. Every time, they conveniently ignore an essential point: water rates are an indicator of a water system’s health – the condition of the critical water mains running under the streets and bringing water to homes.

The easiest way to keep rates low is to not invest in a system, let it deteriorate, and risk a detrimental system failure. Keeping rates artificially low and deferring investment has serious consequences for infrastructure and public health. A discussion of Atlantic City’s water system has to include what shape the system is in and how much capital is needed to ensure that water quality continues to meet state and federal standards.

Taking a step back, the group’s favorite tactic of water rate comparisons across regions and states is a total fallacy. There are dozens of factors that influence water rates, including investment needs, water source (e.g., river water is typically more expensive to treat than well water), service area density, geography and water treatment needs. As a result, experts agree it is misleading to compare the rates of various service territories that have fundamentally different operational needs. These are facts that those with expertise in water policy know and which Food & Water Watch clearly cannot comprehend or just chooses to ignore.

Private water isn’t some boogeyman hiding under the bed. In fact, today, private water companies serve about half of the Garden State’s residents and have operated in New Jersey for over 175 years. And let’s not forget about compliance with federal Safe Drinking Water Act regulations – an analysis of EPA data shows that government-operated water utilities are 24 percent more likely to violate the Safe Drinking Water Act than privately operated utilities.

Atlantic City’s path to fiscal solvency and the future of its water system are part of an important conversation that is going on right now and requires serious solutions from serious people, a category in which Food & Water Watch does not fall. Whether a private water model is best for the city should be part of this debate. The private water industry has a tremendous record of providing expertise to thousands of municipalities across the country and ensuring more than 73 million Americans have access to clean, safe drinking water. But regardless of what decision is ultimately made on the water utility, it is offensive for activists to try to force residents into making decisions about their city’s future based on scare tactics, made-up facts, inappropriate comparisons and flawed analysis.

Michael Deane is executive director of the National Association of Water Companies.