The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority recently transmitted its “5-Year Progress Report” to the Governor and the legislature.  The Report is required by the statute that created in agency in 1984. The report describes the agency’s progress on its programs to modernize the region’s water and sewer infrastructure for the period 2000-2004.

MWRA prepared the Report in collaboration with an independent citizen panel that represented a wide range of expertise: engineering, environmental, public management, and finance. The Panel reviewed each draft of the Report, offering suggestions and pointing out what they felt were the major accomplishments over the 5-year period. Their comments are summed up in a cover letter which notes, “Over the last five years alone, MWRA successfully concluded the $3.8 billion Boston Harbor Project, completed major components of a comprehensive $1.7 billion drinking water system program, reached consensus with litigation parties and project neighbors on a $300 million plan to clean up South Boston beaches, and witnessed the signing of landmark legislation to better protect the sources of MWRA's drinking water. Today MWRA ratepayers see real public health and environmental results.”

The Panel also acknowledged that these successes come at a price for ratepayers, “MWRA has incurred a huge amount of debt in playing catch-up, in undertaking long overdue improvements and maintenance.” The Panel engaged in thoughtful discussions of MWRA’s future challenges and urged the agency to continue to find ways to manage the burden of ever increasing rates on our customers.

This report coincides with the 20th anniversary of MWRA’s establishment and includes a special section describing MWRA’s history and highlighting the environmental and public health improvements accomplished over the last two decades.

According to executive director Frederick A. Laskey, “With the new treatment facilities on Deer Island complete, the clean-up of Boston Harbor has gained national acclaim as one of the greatest environmental success stories of our time. On the drinking water side, massive upgrades to water infrastructure, including a state-of-the-art ozone disinfection plant and covered storage tanks throughout the district, will help guarantee some of the best drinking water in the country for generations to come.”

This is the fourth such report prepared by the MWRA since it was established as an independent agency with the ability to raise its revenues from ratepayers, bond sales and grants. The primary mission was to modernize the area’s water and sewer systems and clean up Boston Harbor. 

A copy of the full report is available on-line in PDF format. If you would like a hard copy, please call (617) 788-1170.

###

PDF documents on this page require Adobe Acrobat Reader® (download free)

# # #