Massachusetts Water Resource Authority Cuts Planned Capital Spending by 3%

By FirmoGraphs Staff
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FirmoGraphs keeps its clients up to date on capital plans of interest for long-term business development. We help our customers use this information to gain a competitive advantage and improve proactive conversations with their clients. We recently processed the latest capital spending plan from Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA). Here are the insights we observed. 

In the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for 2022-2028, MWRA detailed plans to spend a bit over $2.51 billion on capital projects, a decrease of 3% from nearly $2.6 billion in the 2021-2028 CIP. The current CIP has 1,092 discrete projects. The table below breaks down the planned capital spending for MWRA by business area (BA) for its last two CIPs.

*Numbers are Rounded

Wastewater Categories Note Decrease; Increases in Water Categories

Planned spending in the Wastewater Treatment business area increased by 6.5% to $784.6 million. The nearly $50 million increase goes toward replacing obsolete equipment and systems, resulting in lower maintenance and operating costs, including Digester Storage Tank Rehabilitation - Construction project worth $55 million and Odor Control Rehabilitation Construction project worth $41.9 million. Wastewater Treatment is the biggest business area in the wastewater department and has increased intended funds in current CIP,  but all other business areas related to wastewater note decreases.

The water department, on the other hand, has planned spending increases in most business areas. Most notable is a $17.4 million increase in Water Distribution and Pumping, due to the mitigation of pipeline leaks and failures under the Cathodic Protection of Distribution Mains project worth $56.5 million. Another noteworthy increase will come from the installment of new valves under the Northern Low Service Rehabilitation ‐ Section 8 project worth $53.8 million. There is one decrease, at 16.2%, that is from the Water Transmission business area. This decrease will result from finished projects, such as the Watershed Land Acquisition and the Cosgrove Tunnel Redundancy projects.

Pipeline Replacement Projects Receive Substantial Investments

The current CIP has seven projects valued at more than $50 million. Listed below are the three most notable projects and their proposed spending.

  • Local Water System Assistance Phase 3 Distributions - valued at $190 million under the Other Waterworks business area; this is the continuation of the Local Water Assistance Program to provide water system communities with pipeline replacements, cleaning and lining, water metering, and other local water system improvements.
  • Clarifier Rehabilitation Phase 2 Construction - valued at $149 million under the Wastewater Treatment business area; this is the rehabilitation of the sludge removal system, effluent launders, and aeration systems repair, and repair and coating of concrete corrosion, noted during the 1st Phase of Clarifier Rehabilitation.
  • Tunnel Construction - valued at $98.7 million under the Waterworks Transmission business area.

How FirmoGraphs Can Help 

FirmoGraphs curates data about U.S. public sector markets, including capital plans, regulatory developments, and other critical information. We help our customers use this information to gain competitive advantage and improve proactive conversations with their clients. We’d be glad to meet with you and help your company sort through the wealth of information in capital plans and other publicly available documents. Feel free to request a meeting and review the data live in our Business Intelligence platform.

Tags: capital improvement plan, cip, Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, MWRA