MSD Project Clear (Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District) is two utilities in one, providing both wastewater and stormwater services to nearly 1.5 million customers in the St. Louis region. While MSDPC has stable revenue sources to address the region’s wastewater service needs, it does not currently raise and expend funds for stormwater improvement projects. This means that the District is authorized to repair, maintain and operate the public stormwater system as it exists currently, but— unlike the wastewater portion of our system—cannot improve the stormwater system with new additions to address problems and service requests.
While stormwater infrastructure improvement funding is lacking, stormwater problems are not. Erosion and flooding problems (the two largest categories of stormwater issues) are widespread throughout the St. Louis region. Stormwater events can overwhelm both natural and constructed systems when too much rain falls too quickly. Since both erosion and flooding are driven by stormwater, the increasing frequency and severity of major rain events in the last decade indicate that both problems will continue causing property damage and present a potential danger to the public. MSDPC has produced several videos which highlight the type of erosion and flooding problems that can only be addressed through stormwater improvement projects.
Since 2018, MSDPC has investigated more than 3,000 stormwater-related service requests. Currently, the District has identified nearly 500 stormwater capital improvements designed to address significant problems, but all of these improvements—totaling some $500 million—have no funding under the current system. Moreover, funds collected to address wastewater services cannot legally be used to address stormwater issues, and vice versa.
Any change in MSD Project Clear’s ability to fund and address stormwater improvements must be decided by voters within the service area. Therefore, the District has an obligation to educate our customers about:
- Existing and projected erosion and flooding problems
- Potential solutions to these problems.
The District will then seek public input on two questions:
- Does the public want us to address stormwater problems?
- What, if anything, are they willing to pay for stormwater improvement services?
As part of this effort, MSD Project Clear will be hosting seven Virtual Public Meetings, available to anyone with either a computer or a telephone, in the next several months. Due to continuing pandemic related restrictions, there will be no in-person public meetings. MSDPC staff will present information on stormwater, the scope of known erosion and flooding problems, potential solutions, and potential costs.
These meetings are designed with a heavy emphasis on public engagement and discussion so the District can better understand how or if the public would like MSDPC to raise and expend funds on stormwater capital improvements. The list of stormwater meetings is below, including links to the registration page. After registering, a confirmation email with information on joining the meeting will be sent.
Stormwater Virtual Town Hall meetings
One meeting will take place at 12:30 p.m. on the date below:
Six meetings will each take place at 6:00 p.m. on the dates below:
Information on the stormwater issue and registration links to the Virtual Town Hall meetings can be found at msdprojectclear.org/townhalls