Water Sector News
A snapshot of clean water stories from publications around the country, updated daily!
Water and sewer project may cost 3 times estimate
The original 2014 estimate on a federally-mandated water and sewer project was off by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the Director of the Water and Sewer Department.
In 2014, an estimate for what the city engineer called the “largest capital improvement project the city has ever undertaken,” was $350 million. Director of the Water and Sewage Department, Barbara Featherston, said that estimate has tripled reaching the $1 billion mark.
In 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency reported Shreveport to the Department of Justice for multiple sewer overflows. The DOJ then filed civil action against the city on behalf of the EPA and the State of Louisiana. The city negotiated an agreement with the DOJ that required improvement, maintenance and evaluation of the water and sewer system to comply with the Clean Water Act and be completed by 2026.