The mayors of five municipalities serviced by the beleaguered Trenton Water Works are calling for the creation of an independent public utility to manage the water system, which currently serves Trenton and surrounding areas.
“We, the mayors of TWW-serviced towns, agree that the status quo is not sustainable, and we believe that creating a new public utility, with governance that allows for greater operational independence and collaboration across municipalities, is a necessary step forward,” said the mayors in a joint statement released today.
Issuing the statement were mayors Reed Gusciora of Trenton, Jeff Martin of Hamilton, Bert Steinmann of Ewing, Patricia Hendricks Farmer of Lawrence, and Courtney Peters-Manning of Hopewell.
They are reacting to a recently released report by state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette, which outlines critical deficiencies in TWW’s current operations and recommends creating a new utility that would be separate from the City of Trenton’s municipal government.
The report states that the utility would ensure better access to financing, improve operational efficiency, attract skilled professionals, and reduce the influence of political interference.
TWW, which is currently owned and run by the city of Trenton, supplies approximately 29 million gallons of drinking water every day to all of Trenton and Ewing, and parts of Hamilton, Hopewell and Lawrence townships.
It is also providing water service to Bordentown City on a temporary basis while repairs are made to its water-treatment plant.
The Trenton Water Works system, one of the oldest publicly owned water systems in the U.S., currently serves more than 330,000 people across the five municipalities.
Despite its historic significance, TWW’s infrastructure is aging, with the water filtration plant now more than 50 years old. Though the plant can produce up to 60 million gallons of water daily, it currently only supplies 33 million gallons to meet demand.
“It is important to note that the majority of TWW’s customers—55%—reside outside of Trenton, yet the other four municipalities have no formal role in TWW’s governance or authority over its operations,” said the mayors’ statement.
They added: “This disconnect between the service area’s needs and TWW management underscores the necessity of a new governance model.”
In crafting its report and to help guide improvements, the DEP procured independent third-party assessments to objectively appraise the status of TWW and explore options for restructuring.
These assessments confirmed that the status quo is not an effective solution and a new utility entity could be successful if independent of Trenton’s municipal government.
The experts also emphasize that a new utility can meet and maintain compliance with safe drinking water standards and ensure the long-term sustainability of system assets if its governance, management and operations are fully modernized and professionalized.
“The strain on TWW’s outdated infrastructure has resulted in the need for many costly upgrades” said the mayors’ statement. “It is important to note that New Jersey’s water systems with large multi-municipality service areas like TWW have capital projects costing millions of dollars.”
For example, TWW has proposed a $600 million capital improvement program from the early 2000’s.
The mayors said they have agreed to work together to fundamentally improve and make needed investments as part of this transformation to a new public utility entity.
The mayors’ said their key priorities for establishing the new public utility entity include:
· A complete and transparent appraisal of the new public entity-creation process;
· An accounting of the costs that will be needed to fairly compensate the City of Trenton for its asset;
· An assessment of the project’s impact on rates and fees; and
· A public campaign to announce how the new structure will impact ratepayers such as the necessary capital work, including upgrades to the water filtration plant, improvements to the distribution system, and the creation of new positions with competitive salaries to attract and retain skilled professionals.
“The collaboration between mayors is already underway and will continue to accelerate over the next six months,” said the statement. “Together, we aim to restore the public’s faith and confidence in this this new entity.”
TWW has been plagued by a long list of problems for more than a decade. Its numerous issues have included water quality concerns, regulatory violations and operational challenges.
In 2022, the state DEP intervened in the daily operations of TWW after finding that it failed to address numerous problems in the provision of safe drinking water for many years.
In 2020, the state attorney general and DEP filed a lawsuit against TWW—which was later joined by the municipalities served by the water utility—seeking to compel the City of Trenton and the water utility to take the necessary actions after failing to comply with Administrative Consent Orders to provide safe drinking water.
The state has said that TWW needs significant improvements to aging infrastructure, including its 7-acre, open-air-reservoir that stores and provides already treated water to about 70 percent of TWW’s distribution system. The reservoir is in violation of a federal requirement that all outside reservoirs be covered.
Trenton Water Works water filtration plant on the Delaware River. (Photo by Michael Walker courtesy of TWW.),
