While NASSCO was formed as a contractor organization nearly 50 years ago, today we mirror the entire industry with membership among contractors, engineers, public agencies and suppliers.
Today, public agencies are our fastest-growing segment. Over the past 12 months, NASSCO association membership (not to be confused with NASSCO training certification) in the public agency category has grown to almost 25% of total NASSCO membership, compared to 18% the year prior.
Public agency members, through their participation in NASSCO committees and events, bring a unique and important perspective to the work we produce. As the end users of assessment, maintenance, and rehabilitation tools and services, they help drive change for technology, processes and outcomes, including the development of NASSCO specification guidelines, technical videos, presentations and so much more.
NASSCO membership also gives public agencies the opportunity to become more educated and join forces with other NASSCO members to make an impact on the awareness of our aging underground infrastructure and the need for funding. One way they do this is through participation in our Washington D.C. Fly-ins. During these visits, NASSCO members and staff take the opportunity to educate our elected officials about the state of our underground systems, and to talk about trenchless as a great solution. We also ask them to consider NASSCO’s key recommendations: to fully fund drinking water, wastewater and storm water pipeline infrastructure; to protect tax-exempt municipal bonds; to strengthen asset management requirements and funding; and to require certified inspectors and standardized inspection methods. More details about these key recommendations may be found at nassco.org/advocacy.
We have also prewritten letters of appeal to elected officials to support underground infrastructure. Anyone can use this tool by texting the word PIPE to 844-Sewer-10. The current appeal is to oppose President Trump’s FY26 Budget proposal to Congress that would cut the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds to a combined total of $305 million from $2.7 billion in FY25, which is a 90% cut. Additionally, the president’s budget proposal will reduce or eliminate funding for many other programs that support local investments in water infrastructure and compliance with federal water statutes. Hearing from public agencies can make a significant impact on these decisions.
Public agencies also join NASSCO to learn more about issues such as the connection between asset management (using tools such as PACP) and funding. Today, all 50 U.S. states are either investing in technical assistance or providing funding opportunities for asset management-related activities, recognizing that asset management leads to extended asset life, sustainable rate structures and maintenance and replacement programs that result in a more efficient delivery of services.
Additionally, most U.S. states are beginning to integrate asset management-related practices into their state statutes and are working to consider new asset management techniques internally to further promote an asset management approach from local utilities.
Local system owners should contact their state infrastructure financing agency to learn what their processes and requirements are for securing government subsidized funding for asset management plans. These financing agencies are increasingly eager to support asset management plans because they ensure limited funding will be spent on the most critical projects.
To learn more about NASSCO membership and the benefits to public agencies, please visit nassco.org.
