Planners hope the Central Iowa Water Works will be ready to launch on January 1, 2025 and manage the drinking water supply for nearly 19% of Iowa residents.
The West Des Moines Water Works agreed to join the regional drinking water system earlier this month. The new system would manage treatment and tranmission of drinking water to 600-thousand people.
“The last couple of years we’ve been working on an agreement that owuld allow the 13 communities that purchase water from the Des Moines Water Works and collectively oversee that operation,” Des Moines Water Works CEO Ted Corrigan said during a recent appearance on Iowa Press on Iowa PBS.
Member utilities will purchase water at the same wholesale rate and share facilities used to produce drinking water. “If we built it together, we can build it bigger which is cheaper and we can all share the cost savings there,” Corrigan said.
A regional system would better manage water distribution if the drought continues, according to Corrigan. “It’s so much better for us to manage these available water resources cooperatively and collectively, than to start fighting over them,” Corrigan said.
Officials in Bondurant and Altoona have decided to produce their own water.