La. lawmakers tackle troubled water systems

摘要

Spurred by recent hurricanes and a rare winter storm that demonstrated the frailty of Louisiana's public water supply, lawmakers have set their attention on improving the state's troubled water systems. Legislators created a new grading metric for community water systems, steered $300 million in federal coronavirus aid to improvements, and allocated millions more in state cash to upgrades and fixes in their recently ended session. Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) supported the efforts. Louisiana has nearly 1,300 water systems statewide. About half are operating with structures that are more than 50 years old, according to reports documenting their vulnerabilities. In some rural areas, systems are teetering on the brink of failure and face such significant population loss they don't have enough money for proper maintenance.