Broadens the Options
Project Groundwork is MSD’s program for meeting the requirements of Phase 1 of our federally mandated Consent Decree. The detailed projects and plans for Project Groundwork are posted at the dedicated program Web site, at www.projectgroundwork.org.
Project Groundwork is one of the largest public works projects in the history of our community, costing an estimated $3 billion by the time the second phase is complete, and involving the construction of new, separated sewer infrastructure, enhanced treatment capacity at MSD’s wastewater treatment plants, and installation of rainwater source controls.
In this section, we present a special aspect of Project Groundwork’s Wet Weather Strategy that incorporates both environmental and social aspects of sustainability—the sustainable infrastructure strategy for “source control” and the potential community benefits that can be realized through integrated public/private planning and investment.
Consent Decree Negotiation Facilitates Sustainable Infrastructure Solutions
Consent Decrees are the product of intensive negotiation between all parties involved. In MSD’s case, we worked with the regulators and other interested parties to ensure the affordability of the program, flexibility in project selection, and that MSD’s wet weather strategy supports the goals of the Consent Decree. The Consent Decree provides for the incorporation of sustainable source control solutions, and MSD has adopted a three-pronged approach to evaluate and implement these techniques. The strategic prong focused on optimizing the solutions for reducing CSOs, especially stormwater source control. The flexibility prong enabled us to investigate and demonstrate the value of sustainable infrastructure solutions in the overall wet weather program approach. Finally, and importantly, the economic prong insisted on an affordable solution for ratepayers. Because of this focus, our source control demonstration projects are documenting the economic value of these solutions in addition to technical parameters.