Baltimore Regional Water Governance Task Force

As Baltimore city and county debate who will govern critical water and sewage infrastructure for the region, we turn to the example of metropolitan areas who faced similar questions.

We ask Richard Luna, interim head of Baltimore’s Department of Public Works, about his agency's work to address outdated water and sewage pipes, the federal consent decree and more.

We go On the Record to discuss the future of Baltimore city’s water and sewage system. A task force is seeking to modernize its governance. Advocates are concerned the city could lose control over the sprawling system, with terrible consequences for Baltimore ratepayers.

The 13-member work group learned about five different governance models then voted to consider three.

One of the ideas being floated is changing the governance structure to a Regional Water Authority.

Much of the meeting was spent reviewing the history of the service agreement that has the city and county sharing a drinking water and sanitary sewer system.