Section 10-A1300. INFRASTRUCTURE ELEMENT OVERVIEW

 

1300.1The Infrastructure Element provides policies and actions on the District’s water, sanitary sewer, stormwater, solid waste management, energy, and telecommunication systems. Investments in these systems are essential to our city’s future, both to meet the demands of existing users and to accommodate future change and development. 1300.1

 

1300.2Like many older historic cities, the District suffers from aging infrastructure. Some portions of the water and sewer systems were built more than a century ago. The central challenge faced by the District is not one of capacity but one of meeting maintenance and replacement needs. In fact, the number of households in the city today is not substantially different than it was in 1950, though there are 230,000 fewer residents. Consequently, infrastructure is generally in place to support additional development, with some exceptions at specific locations where development did not previously exist. The conveyance systems and facilities, however, are suffering from structural deterioration and are in need of significant rehabilitation, modernization, and expansion as aging components approach the end of their useful lives. 1300.2

 

1300.3The planning, management, and oversight of the District’s utilities is shared by several agencies, including the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (WASA), the US Army Corps of Engineers, PEPCO, Washington Gas, and the District’s Department of Public Works. In addition, the General Services Administration (GSA) contracts with Washington Gas and PEPCO to supply federal agencies with electricity and natural gas. This Element incorporates planning and policy guidance from the short-term and long-term plans of these service providers. 1300.3

 

1300.4The critical infrastructure issues facing the District of Columbia are addressed in this Element. These issues include:

 

•Improving water quality and public health by addressing the city's combined sewer and wastewater system

 

•Modernizing the aging water distribution system

 

•Ensuring the District has a world class telecommunications system with access for residents and businesses across the city. 1300.4

 

notation

The provisions of Title 10, Part A of the DCMR accessible through this web interface are codification of the District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital. As such, they do not represent the organic provisions adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia. The official version of the District Elements only appears as a hard copy volume of Title 10, Part A published pursuant to section 9a of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1994, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; D.C. Official Code § 1 -301.66)) . In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions accessible through this site and the provisions contained in the published version of Title 10, Part A, the provisions contained in the published version govern. A copy of the published District Elements is available www.planning.dc.gov.