As part of his commitment to rebuilding Pennsylvania’s aging infrastructure to serve the commonwealth’s citizens and businesses, protect the public health, and grow the economy, Governor Edward G. Rendell created the Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force through Executive Order 2008-02.

A survey of the state’s water infrastructure found that Pennsylvania is facing nearly $11 billion in unmet drinking water infrastructure needs and at least $7.2 billion in unmet wastewater infrastructure needs, plus millions of dollars more in ongoing operation and maintenance costs. The need for new investments is evidenced by the overflows, leaking and deteriorated collection systems, deferred rehabilitation and replacement work, and shortage of treatment capacity that plague the state’s water systems.
 
The Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force provided a report to Governor Rendell on Nov. 1, 2008 that analyzes the issues related to long-term infrastructure financing and offers recommendations for the resolution of these issues.  Click on "Creating a Sustainable Solution for Pennsylvania" to access the final report.
 
The report by the task force addresses:

• Current and projected costs, financial resources available and the gap between for the construction, upgrade, repair and operation and maintenance of Pennsylvania’s drinking water and sewage infrastructure.
• Projected cost savings realized by the consideration and implementation of all available non-structural alternatives.
• Actual costs of water and sewer service, including recommendation on allocating the costs among customers and state and federal assistance programs.
• Recommendations for legislative or regulatory changes to promote the following components of sustainable infrastructure: Effective System Management, Asset Management, System Optimization, Watershed or Regional Approach.