Birmingham Water Works Board responds to passing of Senate Bill 330
The Birmingham Water Works Board says customers will not be immediately impacted by the passing of a bill that revamps the makeup of the utility.
After more than two hours of debate Thursday morning, Senate Bill 330 passed 69-29 in the Alabama House. The bill passed the Senate in a unanimous vote last week.
"We felt that it was important for our management team to share that the day-to-day operations of the Birmingham Water Works will not affect our customers, and they will not experience any disruptions with service," said BWWB General Manager Mac Underwood. "Our employees are continuing to assist our customers, and the system is moving forward with the infrastructure improvements we have been making over the last nine months."
The current board has nine people, mostly appointed by the city of Birmingham. Birmingham city councilors and the mayor appoint a total of six representatives.
Now, there will be eight regional board members, with Birmingham's mayor, the City Council of Birmingham, and the Jefferson County Commission each appointing one person.
The governor and lieutenant governor will also have a say, with one appointee each.
Shelby County will get one appointee because it is the biggest county outside Jefferson. Shelby will get another board member, as will Blount County, because each has a major reservoir.
"We will continue to operate as we always have by providing the highest quality water possible to the BWW customers within our five-county service area," said Underwood. "I would like to thank the entire BWW team for its continued professionalism while making long-term changes to meet the growing demands from the communities the system serves. Our employees work hard to provide the highest quality of water meeting all federal regulations."