City of Escanaba

Lead Service Line Replacements

Escanaba, Michigan

The City of Escanaba has one of Michigan’s highest rates of lead service lines per capita, with 4,500 lead service lines identified. While lead levels in water tests were below harmful thresholds, the city committed to replacing over 90 percent of its impacted waterlines.

C2AE, Escanaba’s engineering partner since 1995, has been instrumental in this effort. The firm first created a GIS-based asset management plan for Escanaba using SAW Program funding in 2013. Following a thorough inventory of the city’s water infrastructure, C2AE expanded that same GIS database to include water service lines.

Using the GIS database to support funding applications, Escanaba secured $45 million in funding— including $20 million each from ARPA and federal infrastructure grants—to overhaul the city’s lead water infrastructure. Construction will take place over several years; however, the areas identified as highest priority have already received new infrastructure.