Concept hearing on water 'A–F' scorecard draws praise and warnings from utilities and municipal groups

Representative David Castile presented House Bill 3,320 as a concept bill to require the Department of Natural Resources to issue an annual A–F grade for each community water system. The proposed grading would consider federal and state violations, fiscal sustainability, operations and maintenance, and infrastructure concerns; systems receiving a D or F would be designated "operationally unacceptable" and could trigger administrative interventions by DNR, while the bill states that a low grade alone would not be a basis to deny funding.

Why it matters: sponsors said many consumers lack an easy way to evaluate water-system performance; the bill aims to put key regulatory, operational and fiscal indicators into a plain-language report card to encourage earlier interventions and to help systems explain necessary rate increases and capital needs to customers.

Supporters included Matt Jesse of Missouri American Water, who compared the bill to restaurant health grades and said most required data already exist in agency records; Ron Berry of Central States Water Resources also supported the transparency goal. Opponents representing municipal utilities, small systems and associations warned the committee that collapsing complex technical and financial data into a single letter grade could produce misleading signals, unnecessary alarm, and unintended economic consequences. Lacey Hirschvogel (Missouri Association of Municipal Utilities) and Dave Waller (Missouri Rural Water Association) argued that consumer confidence reports and federal rules already provide disclosure and that the bill risks oversimplification.

Committee members asked about the number of water systems affected, how scoring thresholds would be set and whether the grading system would force systems into receivership or otherwise impede access to financing. The sponsor said DNR would promulgate rules to define scoring and that a D or F would indicate unacceptable operation and could lead to corrective measures but would not automatically trigger receivership.

What’s next: the committee completed the concept hearing after receiving testimony from supporters and opponents; sponsors and stakeholders will likely continue technical discussions about scoring criteria, exemptions and potential fiscal supports for struggling systems.