Flint (MI) Missed an Opportunity to “Right Size” With Its Water Crisis

The city of Flint (MI) should have right sized its water infrastructure as part of its response to its water crisis, which was a series of government failures that resulted in lead and other contaminants in the city’s municipal water supply. I discuss why right sizing water systems is necessary in shrinking cities and outline a process for right sizing that uses hydraulic models to identify opportunities for downscaling or removing pipelines. With this information and public input, policymakers can make changes in land use designations that align with a city’s master plan and acknowledge population change. In describing this process, my arguments serve as an example for other cities that are contemplating right sizing. I also argue that infrastructure considerations need to be part of land use decisions: if a city cannot reasonably decommission infrastructure because of system configuration, complete right sizing of vacant land might not be possible.