Water woes: how to pay?

(Dick Jones is a communications consultant from State College, retained by Mansfield University)

This is in response to your story of Sept. 29 on contaminated water wells in Cameron and Potter counties.

Despite the fact that Pennsylvania has a host of water-quality woes -- agricultural runoff, acid mine drainage, deteriorating water and sewer lines, contaminated wells, and advisories against eating locally caught fish -- 70 percent of Pennsylvania adults rate their local water supply as good or excellent.

For a state that has many water problems, this level of satisfaction is somewhat surprising, says Dr. Timothy Madigan, an associate professor of sociology at Mansfield University.

It may reflect the attitude that if the water from the tap is clear and the toilet flushes, few people go looking further afield for problems.

And while 80 percent of state residents believe that more public funding should be available to maintain and upgrade water and sewage systems, only half are willing to pay more for improvements.

The data was gathered earlier this year by a team of Mansfield University sociologists and students.

If people feel strongly about the importance of having clean water in the state, then they are more willing to pay for it. These results suggest that as Pennsylvanians become more familiar with the water and sewage problems facing the state, they will become more agreeable to various solutions.

Forty-six percent of Pennsylvanians reported a preference to having water and sewage management issues dealt with on a local level, as opposed to a county (24 percent) or regional (14 percent) level.

Three-quarters of those surveyed said they were willing to pay one dollar a month for a regional entity to conduct water and sewage planning.

Fifty-six percent said that a regional water and sewage entity should be allowed to influence land decisions currently being made at the municipal level.

Although people prefer the local approach to managing water and sewage issues, a majority - even among those who prefer the local control approach - are open to the addition of a regional voice.