How do you "reform" a crumbling sewer line? Or raise sponsorship dollars to fund parks?

Nationwide, states are desperate, and closing parks and cutting budgets. The Atlanta Business Journal reports, in "
State may seek sponsors for great outdoors" that the State of Georgia, looking to fund parks in the face of terrible budget pressures, wants to tap corporate sponsors. (Also see "So we could have Anna Ruby Falls, brought to you by super-absorbent Pampers" from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.)

But as corporations continue to merge, and as corporate headquarters relocate out of state, fewer dollars are available, meaning that sponsorship might help in the short run, but can't stave off the inevitable. And that some sites may be valuable marketing opportunities for sponsorship while many won't. And there isn't enough money to go around to every state and every locality and every school district (some school districts have sponsors of athletic fields) that is looking to raise sponsorship dollars.

At the end of the day, budgets will have to be righted. It might even be that taxes have to be higher. If you want parks...

Speaking of higher taxes or fees, I was dumbfounded to read a quote from DC Councilmember Jim Graham in a New York Times story, "Saving U.S. Water and Sewer Systems Would Be Costly."

Most cities built the bulk of their water and sewer infrastructure at the turn of the 20th century. Now, 100 years later, this infrastructure is crumbling and needs to be replaced. Furthermore, today's standards for water quality and environmental protection usually mean increased need for infrastructure as well. For example, much of the city is served by a combined stormwater and sewerage drainage system. When the system overflows, the treatment facility is overburdened and untreated sewage water is released into the Potomac River. That's a bad thing.

From the article:

For decades, these systems — some built around the time of the Civil War — have been ignored by politicians and residents accustomed to paying almost nothing for water delivery and sewage removal. And so each year, hundreds of thousands of ruptures damage streets and homes and cause dangerous pollutants to seep into drinking water supplies.

Mr. Hawkins’s answer to such problems will not please a lot of citizens. Like many of his counterparts in cities like Detroit, Cincinnati, Atlanta and elsewhere, his job is partly to persuade the public to accept higher water rates, so that the utility can replace more antiquated pipes.

But here's what CM Graham has to say about it:

"This rate hike is outrageous,” said Jim Graham, a member of the city council. “Subway systems need repairs, and so do roads, but you don’t see fares or tolls skyrocketing. Providing inexpensive, reliable water is a fundamental obligation of government. If they can’t do that, they need to reform themselves, instead of just charging more.”

Tell me, how do you "reform" a crumbling water pipe? How do you "reform" a combined stormwater and sewer drainage system?

You can only "reform" these problems with new infrastructure, and that costs money. The equipment costs money, the people cost money, tearing up the roads costs money.

Thinking anything else is magical and fantastical and won't accomplish anything.

At least they understand what to do in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, judging by this image I swiped from the website of their Department of Public Works. I hope that we can get our understanding in DC up to their level.