Great Lakes Water Authority

The Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) is a regional water authority in the U.S. state of Michigan. It provides water and sewer services for the Southeast Michigan communities, including Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties, among others.

Great Lakes Water Authority
Agency overview
JurisdictionMetro Detroit
Agency executive
  • Sue McCormick, chief executive officer
Websiteglwater.org

History

The Great Lakes Water Authority was created in the fall of 2014 under a United States bankruptcy court order issued as part of the City of Detroit bankruptcy proceedings.[1] The Detroit City Council voted to join the authority in September 2014 by a 7–2 vote, and the county commissions of Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties voted to join in October 2014.[2] The first meeting of the GLWA board was held on December 12, 2014.[2]

The 40-year lease deal was approved on June 12, 2015, by a 5–1 vote of the Great Lakes Water Authority board, marking a historic regionalization of water control hailed by Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan.[3][1] The assumption of much of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department's (DWSD) operations by the Great Lakes Water Authority will allow Detroit to fund improvements to Detroit's aging water infrastructure, such as repairs to old treatment facilities and leaking pipes.[1][4] The lease payments to Detroit must be used for water purposes, and cannot be diverted to the general fund.[4] The deal allows DWSD's workforce to be reduced from around 1,400 to around 500.[4] The Great Lakes Water Authority will have about 900 employees.[4]

In October 2015, following a nationwide search, Sue McCormick, the director of the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, was named the first chief executive officer of the Great Lakes Water Authority.[5]

GLWA formally assumed operations from the DWSD on January 1, 2016.[1] The GLWA also assumed $4 billion of DWSD's debt.[1] The assumption of Detroit's operations and debt is under a 40-year lease that GLWA has over the City of Detroit's water system.[1] The lease agreement was brokered in secret mediation by U.S. District Judge Sean Cox and required "lengthy and contentious negotiations" between Detroit and suburban Detroit leaders, who feared any prospect of bailing out Detroit's water system.[3][4] Under the agreement, the authority will pay the City "$50 million a year plus about $50 million a year toward pension costs and a fund to help struggling customers" in exchange for the city's water system.[3]

Governance

The GLWA is led by a board of directors.[3] It consists of two representatives of the City of Detroit and one representative each from Oakland County, Macomb County, Wayne County, and the State of Michigan.[1][6] The Detroit representatives are appointed by the mayor, the county representatives are appointed by their respective counties, and the state representative is appointed by the governor.[7] The governor's appointee is intended to represent users of the water authority's services outside Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne, such as users in Washtenaw, Genesee, and Monroe counties.[4][7]

Services

The authority provides water and sewer services to almost four million customers from about 125 Michigan communities in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and other counties.[1][4] About 75% of the authority's customers live in the suburbs, with the rest living in Detroit.[4]

The authority has not yet set water rates (which could be variable by community), although it aims to determine rates by March 2016 and make them effective by July 1, 2016.[1] Annual rate increases will be capped at four percent for the first ten years of the authority's existence.[2]

Notes
  1. Kampe, Paul (January 4, 2016). "Great Lakes Water Authority takes over regional operations". The Oakland Press. Pontiac, MI. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  2. Ferretti, Christine (December 12, 2014). "Regional water authority members sworn in, organize". The Detroit News. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  3. Ramirez, Charles E. & Watson, Ursula (June 12, 2015). "Water authority OKs 40-year lease of Detroit system". The Detroit News. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  4. Wisely, John & Guillen, Joe (June 12, 2015). "Great Lakes Water Authority OKs lease of Detroit system". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  5. Helms, Matt (October 19, 2015). "McCormick named 1st CEO of Great Lakes Water Authority". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  6. "Board". Great Lakes Water Authority. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
  7. "Great Lakes Water Authority Fact Sheet". City of Detroit. Retrieved January 10, 2016.
gollark: My Discord bot was in Rust until I redid it in Python because libraries.
gollark: For the stuff I do.
gollark: > Rust shills stop being rust shills the second they write their first Rust code :^)I have written Rust code. It's not as easy/nice as Python or something, but way better than C.
gollark: For kernelly stuff Zig is neat.
gollark: Not really kernels or whatever, yet.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.