By Darren Svan | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Shreveport’s Clean Water Task Force learned that EPA-mandated sewer improvements slowed the city’s ability to invest in water infrastructure, but officials said the focus is now equally on water so residents can expect to see progress.
“We have told the regulators we cannot sacrifice the improvements we need to make in the water system and put all our money in sewer,” said Tom Dark, Shreveport’s chief administrative officer. “That’s actually kind of what happened … when they first signed the decree.”
In 2014, the city entered into a consent decree to reduce overflows from its sewer system and resolve violations of the Clean Water Act. Plaintiffs include the Department of Justice, the EPA and the state of Louisiana.
The water task force met Wednesday for the first of several public meetings they plan to host. It’s mostly composed of city water officials, state regulators, public health experts and academic leaders. Dark chairs the committee after being appointed by the governor.
It convened following the recent adoption of House Resolution 367, sponsored by Rep. Joy Walters, D-Shreveport, who outlined her interest in the topic.
“We consistently have an F and it concerns me,” Walters said.
The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) issued Shreveport a failing rating in the 2025 Community Public Water System report, the third consecutive unsatisfactory evaluation.
“We know that it is an inherited thing from administration to administration,” Walters said, “and I want to know as a legislator how to assist us in increasing that grade.”
In their latest report, LDH assessed just over 900 public water systems statewide, with 192 of them classified as municipal systems, according to the report.
Around 3.6% of statewide municipal systems earned a failing grade, the report said.
That failing grade can have an impact on Shreveport’s economic growth, Walters told the group.
“We are not far from a better grade,” Dark said, adding that the state’s grading scale is not a reflection of water quality. “We won’t have water that tastes or smells any different when that’s over. It’s the same water.”
Dark provided a detailed description of the grading criteria, the city’s water treatment process and recent safe drinking water violations – trihalomethanes in 2023 and 2025, and high turbidity in 2024 and 2026.
Surface water treatment is “essentially a chemistry process,” he said. Pretreatment involves chlorine dioxide, caustic soda and carbon dioxide, while chemical additions can include ammonia and phosphate.
The city’s water main network is 1,065 miles; there are four pump stations, four pressure zones, four storage tanks and 73,000 customer connections.
After the task force hosts more meetings, a final report due to the state by Nov. 18. The group does not have the authority to spend public funds or mandate construction projects. Instead, it is charged with studying the issues and recommending solutions.