On Tuesday Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) suggested to Mayor Stephanie Miner that the federal government would likely be able to help Syracuse replace its water mains. Federal government aid is necessary in this situation; the city needs help to pay for the extensive repairs and expecting Syracuse to foot the bill on its own is impractical.

Syracuse has more than 550 miles of water pipes; some of those are more than 100 years old. In 2014, there were 391 water main breaks. In the first six weeks of 2015 there have already been 45 water main breaks. The estimated cost to replace the water pipes is estimated at $726 million.

The mayor has been asking for state aid for more than a year, but the state’s final position was made clear when Gov. Andrew Cuomo met with the Post Standard last week and made the irresponsible comment that Syracuse and other upstate cities should “do better.”

Cuomo suggested that Syracuse should, “Show us how you become economically stronger and create jobs. Then you fix your own pipes,” according to the Post Standard.

Miner argued that without proper infrastructure economic development is not possible. And The Daily Orange Editorial Board agrees. The city’s infrastructure is crumbling and expecting a city that is struggling to fix such an extensive program without any assistance is absurd.

That is not to absolve Syracuse of its fault. At the moment the city has a “fix it when it breaks” approach rather than a preventative one. And because water main breaks are most common in the winter months, the repairs are made only more difficult by cold weather and snow accumulation. The city should have a plan in place to repair the aging pipes before they bust.

Syracuse should start to make some of these improvements now to make it clear to the federal government that it deserves the hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. Schumer said that it’s likely Congress will approve legislation to provide federal grants to improve infrastructure across the country, but that it won’t get started on until May.

In the meantime, Syracuse can begin to invest in overhauling the water mains because the problem won’t fix itself.

Published on February 11, 2015 at 12:17 am