Charleston Gazette-Mail – With pipes from hundreds of water systems in the state continuing to crumble beneath residents’ feet as their expiration dates creep closer and closer, the West Virginia Senate is entertaining a bill — the first of its kind to be introduced in the Legislature — to try and tackle one of the biggest challenges associated with the state’s failing water infrastructure: funding. Read full article.
With 30 of the state’s 34 senators signed on as sponsors, Senate Bill 500 proposes creating the Sewer and Water Infrastructure Replacement Fund, which would divert a percentage of excess revenue in the state — when there is excess revenue — to fund grants for public service districts and municipalities to replace aging water and sewage facilities.
While it’s most likely impossible that the fund would ever accumulate the $4 billion the Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council estimates is needed for rehabilitation work on existing water and sewer lines, it’s a rare step at the state level toward a solution.
