No one likes to pay old bills, but most of us have learned that’s the responsible thing to do and that the consequences for failing to do so can be severe. Similarly, stormwater investments are a generational debt Chattanooga incurred for decades of deferred maintenance to our antiquated infrastructure — neglect that led to raw sewage overflowing into the Tennessee River on a regular basis for many years.
And it’s important to understand that these investments are not optional — they are legally mandated under a consent decree which the city signed in 2012 with the federal government to avoid costly fines and litigation for its repeated historical violations of the Clean Water Act.
Why? Because generations ago, our city fathers decided to combine our sewer and stormwater systems into one single system, likely as a cost-saving measure. In practice, that meant rain would share the same pipes with water from your dishwasher, tub and toilet. However, as the city expanded, both in population and in the acres of impervious surfaces like parking lots and roofs, heavy rains began to overwhelm the system’s limited capacity to treat the combination of rain and sewage, with the excess overflowing into the only place it could go: the Tennessee River.
And this isn’t just a legal issue. The sanitary sewer didn’t only overflow during heavy rain events, but during dry weather as well — spoiling the river and its shores for those who would otherwise contribute to our outdoor economy, as well as contaminating the river for those downstream of us.
Thanks to the consent decree, instead of sending penalty payments to Washington, D.C., the city has put that money to work fixing the root of the problem right here in Chattanooga.
And while stormwater problems often lie deep underground and are not cheap to fix, we’ve seen the value of these investments in preserving and cleaning up our outdoor ecosystem and promoting tourism. According to the Chattanooga Tourism Co., local tourism translates to $1.5 billion in annual visitor spending which saves each household an average of $828 in local and state taxes and sends $23 million to our local schools. That wouldn’t be possible without our commitment to preserving the scenic beauty of our city and the integrity of our natural resources.
These investments are beginning to make a dent in the root of the problem. Since bringing more than 30 million gallons of wastewater storage online in June, not one gallon of untreated sewage has overflowed into the Tennessee River. And while none of us are happy to be on the hook for these obligations, the good news is that our rates remain lower than those in Knoxville, and are generally in the middle of the pack when compared with peers across the state.
To pay for these improvements, our finance team is working to generate funds as cheaply as possible, and as part of that effort has secured $186 million in federal loans from the EPA at the least expensive rate offered by the federal government — essentially at cost.
Those funds will help advance projects such as an oxygen plant replacement, a wet weather treatment upgrade, and a solids process optimization, as well as citywide pipe rehabilitation and pump station improvements.
In plain English, that means we’ve got to keep fixing the old sewer system so heavy rains and growth don’t overwhelm our ability to handle Chattanooga’s sanitation needs, and so we can keep our river clean and beautiful for future generations.
Chattanooga was once known as the dirtiest city in America, and we’ve all seen the incredible progress we’ve made in the decades since. By completing this consent decree, we can keep our river clean, upgrade our local infrastructure, and keep our outdoor economy thriving for decades to come.
Mayor Tim Kelly