Hamilton County commissioners recently approved a plan to continue work on a federal consent decree for the Metropolitan Sewer District. It's the first update in three years to the court-ordered plan to reduce how much untreated sewage and stormwater overflows into waterways during heavy rain events.
"We're required to do all these things to meet the Clean Water Act and reduce overflows, but only to the extent that it's affordable," MSD Chief Engineer Ryan Welsh told WVXU. "So that's why it can stretch out, you know, beyond 10 years, 20 years, as long as it takes to get it done."
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The Phase 2a plan only extends to the end of next year, and includes five projects — two are under construction and one is already complete.
"That is so few," says Marilyn Wall, who's been part of the lawsuit against MSD since Day One, as a Sierra Club volunteer. "They have to finish them all by the end of 2024, which shows you this is not the kind of plan you need, because you don't want to be negotiating it again and again every year."
A tug of war between Hamilton County and city of Cincinnati officials over who controls MSD has delayed progress.
The county owns the sewer district, and the commissioners set the budget for the agency. The city operates the utility and claims ownership of the assets that it brought to the district when it was established in 1968.
That 50-year agreement expired in 2018, but a federal judge ordered it remain in place until a replacement arrangement is agreed to. But so far that has not happened, and both sides have continued arguing.
Phase 2 work was meant to begin four years ago, which is why the recently approved Phase 2a includes projects already under construction or completed.
The plan for Phase 2b is due to federal regulators by June 30. At least a few more phases are expected after that before MSD comes into full compliance with federal law.
Welsh says six or seven billion gallons of untreated sewage and stormwater overflows each year, down from about 14 billion gallons a year before the consent decree work began.
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"You have to keep in mind that it really depends on the rainfall," Welsh said. "If we get a really wet year with a lot of storms, that number can go up and down."
Unfortunately, Welsh says recent weather trends are working against the progress made.
"We're still getting something close to average rainfall in Cincinnati, but we're getting it in a fewer number of storms, and they're really intense storms," Welsh said.
Learn more about MSD's Wet Weather Program (what they call the plan to complete the work of the consent decree) on their website here.
See the full approved plan for Phase 2a below:
