This story was updated at 6:11 p.m. EDT.
Torrential rainfall wreaked havoc on water infrastructure in parts of the U.S. last week, exposing the growing cost of flooding and chipping away at progress many communities have made to reduce sewage pollution.
Amid record rainfall in parts of the Midwest, more than 150 wastewater treatment plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota were forced to discharge raw sewage into nearby rivers and creeks, state and local officials said.
Advertisement
While that deluge was underway, the city of Las Vegas, New Mexico, imposed extensive water restrictions all last week after floodwaters from a different storm contaminated the water supply with debris left over from a wildfire.
