The Octoraro reservoir is a 520-square-acre impoundment with over 10 miles of shoreline.
How it was first created
It was impounded in 1952 and is home to a variety of fish including, large and smallmouth bass, white crappie, yellow and white perch, walleye, northern pike, catfish, and many varieties of sunfish.
The Octoraro Reservoir and surrounding properties are owned by the Chester Water Authority. The purpose of the reservoir is public water supply. Keeping that in mind we ask that you respect our rules* and do your part to maintain the quality and beauty of the Octoraro Reservoir.
History Continued
The Chester Water Authority is the primary provider of quality drinkable water to residents within and near the Octoraro Watershed. The Authority dates back to 1866, when the City of Chester allowed the Authority to create a 1.5 million gallon reservoir, pumping water in from the Delaware. The original capacity of the plant, provided 800,000 gallons of water a day, to 67 customers. In 1948 the Authority began constructing a dam that would impound 2.8 billion gallons of water in the Octoraro Reservoir, and the Authority`s distribution facilities (CWA).
After a mid-1960s drought, fears arose concerning whether a severe drought could affect the Octoraro water supply, and thus the Authority began the Susquehanna River Project (SRP).
Completed in 1970, the SRP provided an additional 30 MGD of water that could be pumped by pipeline into the Octoraro Treatment Plant (CWA). This doubled the amount of water resources available to 60 MGD. The SRP originally used to provide additional water in times of drought, is now used to dilute water from the Octoraro Water to meet drinking water quality standards.
The Authority provides water to over 200,000 thousand people, businesses, and industry. The Authority provides over 36 million gallons of water per day to its customers (2003). The Authority's water currently meets all the criteria established by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), and the American Water Works Association (AWWA). (CWA)
Now we get to Current History…
Timeline of the Attempted Hostile Takeover
Aqua's Unsolicited Bid
In 2017, just a year after Act 12 passed, Aqua made a $320M unsolicited bid to purchase the CWA. The CWA board unanimously rejected the offer. The board determined that there was no benefit to ratepayers from the sale. If CWA was sold, rates would go up and the public would lose access to the Octoraro Reservoir——a lose-lose situation. The CWA board's decision to reject this bid has saved ratepayers over $200M.
City of Chester in Critical Financial Distress
In February, the City of Chester put out a Request for Proposals for the acquisition of the assets of CWA, despite CWA not being an asset of the City. The City receives 3 bids: Aqua Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania American Water, and CWA (repeating its offer from 2019).
COVID-19 struck and the City of Chester subsequently lost millions of dollars in revenue when the casino closed. On April 13, Governor Wolf placed the City of Chester into receivership with the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). CWA stated this declaration.
On April 24, Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Spiros Angelos issued an order indicating any sale of CWA assets must be approved not only by the city but also by Chester and Delaware counties, where the bulk of CWA's customers live. The City of Chester has appealed that ruling. The case went up to the Commonwealth Court, which heard oral arguments in the case en banc (all members, instead of just one judge or a small group of judges) in November. We are awaiting their decision.
In June, Speaker of the PA House, Rep. Mike Turzai retired to go work for Essential Utilities.
Because of the activism of CWA ratepayers, legislation was introduced to the PA House. HB 2597 was introduced by Rep. John Lawrence (PA 13) in July. HB 2746 was introduced by Rep. Christina Sappey (PA 158) in August. Both of these bills were referred to the Consumer Affairs Committee. HB 2597 was given a hearing in September. Statements in the hearing were given by Cynthia Leitzell, CWA Chairperson, and Karen Versuk, director of operations for Penn Township. Both bills died in committee without ever being brought up for a vote at the end of the 2020 legislative session.
City of Chester Declares Bankruptcy
In February, through Right-to-Know (RTK) requests, CWA obtained a draft of the Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) that the DCED, Governor's Office, Chester Receiver, City of Chester, and AQUA have been secretly negotiating since mid-2020. In the APA, there is NO mention of rate freezes or rate stability funds, and NO mention of protecting the reservoir. Further RTK requests reveal email exchanges that the Governor's Office and DCED have a policy in place to attempt to sell the water and sewer assets of distressed communities to resolve pension debts. Also in February, Rep. John Lawrence confronts newly-appointed Acting DCED secretary, Neil Weaver, at a budget hearing.
In April, the PA Supreme Court decided to hear CWA's petition appeal. Oral arguments are scheduled for November 30.
In September, CWA submitted a letter to the Environmental Justice Advisory Board of the DEP requesting them to hold state-wide public hearings on water affordability, making the case for water justice because Big Water privatization deals disproportionally affect the lives of Black people and People of Color.
In November, the DCED-Appointed Receiver for the City of Chester submitted an Amended Recovery Plan for the City of Chester, asking the Commonwealth Court to give him sole control over City Authorities. Two days later, the Receiver filed for bankruptcy in federal court. This puts a stay on state cases, including the PA Supreme Court case that was scheduled for Nov 30. He also filed a motion to have the stay lifted on the Commonwealth Court case ONLY (with the Amended Recovery Plan, which CWA is not a party to). This Robbery in Progress is a developing story.
All Images and Information cited from www.savecwa.org
Passage of Act 12
In 2016, Pennsylvania lawmakers in Harrisburg passed a piece of legislation, Act 12 (attached to House Bill 1326), that resulted in two consequences.
Legislation:
Private companies can offer to buy municipal authorities for more than they are worth.
Consequence:
Poorer communities are tempted to accept high-dollar bids.
Legislation:
Municipal authorities no longer have to be in financial or operational distress to be purchased by private companies.
Consequence:
CWA is suddenly a target. It has never been in distress in its 150+ year history.
CWA's Attempts to Protect Our Water and Us
The City of Chester is in financial distress. In an attempt to protect CWA from future hostile takeover bids by private corporations and to support the City of Chester, CWA offered the city a one-time $60M payment in exchange for placing the authority in a trust for 40 years. The City of Chester never responded to this offer.
Aqua Sues CWA:
Aqua buys water from CWA. As a corporate ratepayer, Aqua sued CWA. They did not want CWA to bail out the City of Chester with the $60M offer making the city solvent and less susceptible to accepting a corporate buyout.
Note: In court proceedings between the City of Chester and CWA, the City of Chester is supported by Aqua's legal counsel.
New Legislation Introduced
Rep. Christina Sappey (PA-158) reintroduced her bill in the new legislative session (now named HB 144) and Rep. John Lawrence (PA-13) has reintroduced his bill (now HB 97). Both have again been referred to the Consumer Affairs Committee. Sen. John Kane (SD-9) has introduced a companion bill to Rep. Sappey's bill in the PA Senate, SB 452.
In April, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of CWA in the RTKL (Right-to-Know Law) case. The court declared that communications between DCED and third parties/consultants are not privileged and therefore they will have to reveal those documents to CWA. In May, a bi-partisan hearing co-chaired by Rep. Lawrence and Rep. Krueger drew attention to Section 1329 of Title 66 (better known as Act 12). Discussion surrounded whether this law should be amended to pertain only to distressed water systems, not healthy systems like CWA.
In September, the Commonwealth Court ruled that Chester City could dissolve CWA. The narrow ruling did not answer other questions about assets or ownership and returned the case to the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas to continue litigating those issues. CWA has appealed the Commonwealth Court decision to the PA Supreme Court. On September 29, Reps Kreuger and Lawrence introduced HB 1936 to Amend Act 12 to only pertain to distressed systems. The bill was referred to the Consumer Affairs Committee.
On Oct. 13, Chester City Council unanimously passed a resolution asking the Receiver to allow them to enter into an Asset Purchase Agreement with Aqua. CWA promptly sued City Council stating that it violated the Sunshine Act by not making the Asset Purchase Agreement available for public review and comment before the vote. CWA asked the court to honor the stay that is in place.
Save Chester Water Authority
Our award-winning, superbly-managed, municipal water authority, Chester Water Authority (CWA), is under attack in a hostile corporate takeover attempt by the company formerly known as Aqua America (now re-branded as Essential Utilities, Inc.).
As a community, we have everything to lose and nothing to gain by this sale. The sale will result in higher rates, loss of the Octoraro reservoir, loss of open space, and loss of control of our public water. The company formerly known as Aqua America is a for-profit, publicly-traded corporation; it’s beholden to shareholders and profits. CWA is a non-profit municipal authority; it’s beholden to clean water and us!
With your help, we will stop the sale.
Together, we will SAVE CWA!