President Donald Trump and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) traded barbs this week over each other’s response to a massive sewage spill in the Potomac River. Yet the public’s frustration really should be directed toward D.C. Water, the government agency most responsible for this mess.
The public utility owns and operates the sewer line that ruptured on Jan. 19, spewing upward of 300 million gallons of raw wastewater into the river. It is now one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history, and it didn’t have to happen.
The disaster is a reminder that transferring more money to government doesn’t necessarily result in better services. D.C. Water has spent billions over the past few years on projects to modernize its infrastructure and clean up the area’s riverways. To pay for this work, it’s consistently raised utility payments. A D.C. household consuming the average amount of water saw its bill jump at least 4.75 percent every year since 2023. In fact, thanks to a new rule, a few residents saw their rates more than double this year. The agency’s budget increased 6.9 percent from 2024 to 2025 and 6.3 percent from 2025 to 2026.
D.C. Water’s primary task right now is fixing the pipeline and mitigating the ecological impacts. Scientists have detected high levels of dangerous pathogens such as E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus near the pipeline burst, and the spill could threaten wildlife.
Just as important is accountability and reform. When was the last time the sewer line was inspected? And what was its condition at the time? The section that collapsed dates back to the 1960s, so D.C. Water shouldn’t have been caught off guard. Was maintenance on the line delayed for other projects? Why hasn’t anyone been fired? They would be at a private company.
D.C. Water CEO David Gadis stressed in a recent open letter the importance of “sustained investment and vigilance.” The agency, he said, has committed $625 million to rehabilitate the sewer line, in addition to other projects to prevent sewage from entering waterways. That’s well and good, but if government-run agencies aren’t competent to adequately provide this basic service, private companies might have to step in and do it for them.
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