The Challenge Before Us
We stand at a historic crossroads for the future of Hamilton County and Cincinnati, where challenge meets opportunity. As a region, we face a downturn in economic activity, high unemployment, degradation of creeks and rivers, and loss of vegetative cover. As a utility, MSD feels the impacts of these and other challenges, including:
- The 180-year old sewer network, needing significant redesign and investment to update it
- Limited sewer capacity to handle heavy flows during rainy weather
- Loss of revenue
- Nearly 30 percent of the workforce is eligible for retirement by 2015, coupled with a restructuring of the local government workforce
- More stringent terms and conditions for financing
Most importantly, by federal mandate, MSD must reduce CSOs by 85 percent (of about 14 billion gallons of CSO annually) and eliminate SSOs entirely. These requirements are documented in a formal Consent Decree agreed to by MSD and regulators.
Phase 1 must be completed in 10 years, by December 2018, and must result in 2 billion gallons of overflow reduction, based on a typical year of rainfall. MSD has until December 2012 to submit its preferred alternative Phase 1 Plan, and we estimate that Phase 1 spending will amount to $1.145 billion. Details of the Consent Decree and Project Groundwork are available at the dedicated wet weather program Web site at www.projectgroundwork.org.