Public Infrastructure

Water to drink, water to treat our sewage, water to grow our crops. All Montanans need a sufficient amount of clean, drinkable water to survive. Yet many of our communities have aging water and wastewater systems, or no system at all other than individual wells and malfunctioning septic system drain fields. Inadequate and failing private water, wastewater, and solid waste facilities threaten our public health and environment, and our capacity to support economic development and job creation.

Today there is a heightened awareness of the dangers of environmental pollution and the potential impact on our public health. Yet treating water is expensive. Construction costs have risen sharply and eliminating chemicals, sediment, heavy metals, and bacteria requires increasingly sophisticated treatment systems. In 1994, when the last comprehensive survey of public facilities needs was completed, it was estimated that Montana needed to invest at least $500 million to rehabilitate its existing community drinking and wastewater systems. Since that time several new environmental regulations have been implemented, which have required many facilities to under go further improvements.

Montana's citizens ultimately must pay for these public facilities, but local governments are responsible for operating and managing them, and when necessary upgrading or replacing them. Because of the tremendous expense of constructing these systems and the limited incomes in many of our communities, the State and the federal government have recognized that many communities, especially small rural ones, need help. Programs exist to assist and subsidize the high cost of upgrading or replacing environmental infrastructure. Unfortunately, even collectively, these programs cannot always close the gap between what systems cost and what Montana citizens can reasonably afford to pay.

State Infrastructure Programs

MT Department of Commerce

Department of Natural Resources & Conservation

Department of Environment Quality

Federal Infrastructure Programs

Local Infrastructure Programs