Michigan may need up to $85 billion to fix aging water pipes, GLWA report says

The Great Lakes Water Authority released a report this week that puts a number on a problem most Detroiters never see: Michigan may need as much as $85 billion over the next 20 years to repair and replace its aging water and wastewater infrastructure.

The report, titled "The Crisis Beneath Us: The Urgent Need to Invest in Michigan's Water Infrastructure," is the product of the Water Funding Task Force, a coalition of financial, legal, engineering, and public-policy experts GLWA convened in January 2026.

Over six months, the task force met with dozens of water utilities across Michigan and the country, reviewed hundreds of reports, and analyzed public opinion research.

One number captures the imbalance. Michigan's FY 2027 budget includes just over $200 million in non-federal funding for water infrastructure, compared with more than $5 billion for roads, meaning water receives roughly four cents for every state dollar invested in roads.

"Michigan has reached a point where maintaining the water infrastructure millions of people depend on every day cannot be treated as a local problem with a local solution," said GLWA CEO Suzanne R. Coffey, P.E.

The scale is easiest to grasp underground. GLWA's system delivers drinking water to nearly four million residents across eight southeast Michigan counties, and it includes pipelines more than 100 years old. Its roughly 800 miles of water transmission main have an average age of 72 years.

More than 40 percent of those mains need attention, including 86 miles of rapidly aging 1970s-era prestressed concrete cylinder pipe and 70 miles already beyond their useful life.

The cost of waiting is already visible. A February 2025 rupture in southwest Detroit flooded a full square mile, displaced hundreds of residents, and caused more than $12 million in property damage. In May 2026, a 42-inch transmission main failure in Auburn Hills disrupted water service across five Oakland County communities, affected roughly 200,000 residents, and led Governor Gretchen Whitmer to declare a state of emergency.

The report concludes the state cannot close a gap this size through higher local water rates alone. Combined water and sewer rates in Michigan have already increased 24 percent over five years. Instead, it presents a range of state-level tools for policymakers, including general obligation and revenue bonds, pay-as-you-go appropriations, and new or expanded revenue sources.

A small down payment is already on the table in Lansing. A Michigan Senate spending item posted in April requests $20 million in the FY 2027 budget, sponsored by Senator Rosemary Bayer, to renew sections of the 54-inch transmission main serving southwest Detroit and the 14-Mile transmission main serving western Oakland County.

The report frames the fix as a solvable one. "Michigan already has a blueprint for funding our infrastructure. We did it with roads, and now it's time to do it for water," said Maggie Pallone, senior vice president at Public Sector Consultants and the report's lead author.

The public appears to be there already. The report cites research showing 85 percent of Michiganders consider the state's failure to maintain its water infrastructure a serious concern, while 84 percent support increased state investment.

The full report is available at glwater.org.