Aug 30, 2015 2 min read

A plan now being discussed under which the Dunkard Valley Joint Municipal Authority would be acquired by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Water Authority should provide some hope for customers of the small Dunkard Valley authority.

Dunkard Valley serves about 500 customers in the Greensboro, Glassworks, Penn Pitt, Cabbage Flats and Mapletown areas in Greene County. The authority’s system was constructed in the 1940s by the Duquesne Light Co., which operated the nearby Warwick Mine. Many of its water distribution lines date back to the authority’s founding, and in recent years they have been plagued by leaks. The winter of 2013 was particularly bad – the authority experienced about 50 line breaks, sometimes two and three a day, leaving customers in doubt whether they would have water.

The authority covers an area with little potential for growth and it has limited capability to gather funds to make needed improvements without increasing rates beyond what customers can afford.

Southwestern, on the other hand, is one of the larger authorities in the state, serving 12,500 customers and a population of about 45,000 in Greene County and parts of Fayette and Washington counties.

The authority recently completed the first phase of a treatment plant expansion and is planning a second phase that will boost capacity from 7 million gallons a day, prior to the expansion, to 16.1 million gallons a day.

While Dunkard Valley officials have talked about merging with another authority before, the plan now under discussion is more feasible. Southwestern is a much larger authority, with the financial and professional resources needed to make it work.

Monongahela Township and Greensboro Borough, Greene County and local legislators have all been seeking a solution to Dunkard Valley’s dilemma. Its acquisition by Southwestern would be a good solution.