New Open-Access Book Edited By Council Member Manny Teodoro Examines The Future Of U.S. Drinking Water

Volume includes chapters by several Council members and is available as a free download

Fifty years after the passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), a new open-access book looks ahead to what it will take to protect America’s drinking water in the decades to come. Safe Drinking Water Act: The Next Fifty Years, edited by Water & Health Advisory Council (Council) member Manny Teodoro, brings together leading researchers and water sector leaders — including several Council members — to examine how policy, governance, finance, workforce capacity, and public trust must evolve to meet today’s drinking water challenges.

“The Safe Drinking Water Act has been one of the most successful public health laws in U.S. history,” said Manny Teodoro, Robert & Sylvia Wagner Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “But many of the challenges utilities face today demand new tools, approaches, and ways of thinking. This book is about what comes next.”

The book features chapters on several priority issues facing the drinking water sector today, including:

• Prioritizing risk, by Chad Seidel, Council member and President, Corona Environmental Consulting
• Implementation, by Alan Roberson, Council member and former Executive Director of the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators (ASDWA)
• Building workforce capacity, by Robin Rose Saywitz, Assistant Professor, Political Science, Saint Louis University
• Scale and system performance, governance, Safe Drinking Water Act, by Manny Teodoro, Council member
• Madison Declaration on the Future of Drinking Water, by Kathryn Sorensen, Chair of the Council and Director of Research at the ASU Kyl Center for Water Policy
• Risk communication, by Lyn M. van Swol, Associate Chair, Department of Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bret Shaw, Professor, Life Sciences Communication, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Ika Dai, Teaching Assistant, Communication Science, Department of Communication Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison

The book grew out of a December 2024 symposium hosted by the Council and the University of Wisconsin-Madison during the SDWA’s 50th anniversary year, which convened regulators, utility leaders, policymakers, and researchers from across the country. At the heart of the project is the Madison Declaration, which helped shape the questions and priorities addressed throughout the book. Developed in connection with the Act’s 50th anniversary, the Declaration calls for a renewed national approach to drinking water that elevates governance, institutional capacity, and public trust alongside technical solutions.

“Across the country, communities are struggling to maintain drinking water infrastructure that is decades past its intended life,” said Kathryn Sorensen, Chair of the Council and Director of Research at the ASU Kyl Center for Water Policy. “Aging infrastructure, workforce shortages, affordability pressures, and supply chain problems now represent some of the greatest risks to safe drinking water. The Madison Declaration calls for a change in how we prioritize community water system needs.”

The conversation launched by Safe Drinking Water Act: The Next Fifty Years will continue throughout 2026, including dedicated discussions at AWWA ACE 2026 (June 21-24) and engagement at other national and regional water and policy convenings.

Safe Drinking Water Act: The Next Fifty Years is available now as a free, open-access download. Water professionals, policymakers, and community leaders interested in the future of drinking water are encouraged to read the book and connect with members of the Water & Health Advisory Council to learn more.