City to Hold Public Meeting on Sanitary Sewer Plan

The Baltimore City Department of Public Works will hold its annual public meeting on Thursday, January 15, 2026 at 6 00 p m at the Cylburn Arboretum Vollmer Center, 4915 Greenspring Avenue. The session will brief the public on progress under the Sanitary Sewer Modified Consent Decree, and will present the revised Phase II Plan as well as DPW long term plans to prevent and mitigate sanitary sewer overflows.

The Modified Consent Decree is a legal agreement between the City of Baltimore, the U S Environmental Protection Agency and the Maryland Department of the Environment. It sets out the measures the city must take to address overflows in the sewer collection system and to improve water quality and regulatory compliance. DPW officials will describe the citys obligations under that agreement and the actions planned in the coming years.

Attendees will be able to visit individual learning stations staffed by DPW experts to learn about preventive maintenance programs, upcoming sanitary sewer design and construction projects, and water quality and compliance efforts. The meeting will also review homeowner focused programs that respond to wet weather basement backups, including the Basement Backup Expedited Reimbursement Program and the Sewage Onsite Support Program. Educational initiatives aimed at younger residents will be on display, including the free Baltimore City DPW Sewer Heroes coloring book that teaches children how to help prevent clogs and debris in the system.

The meeting is free and open to the public and advance registration is encouraged through Eventbrite by searching for the 2026 MCD Annual Meeting. For more information and materials, DPW maintains a Sanitary Sewer Consent Decree webpage at publicworks.baltimorecity.gov/sewer-consent-decree. A recorded version of the presentation and the virtual learning stations will be posted on that webpage for those who cannot attend in person.

For Baltimore residents, the meeting is a key opportunity to assess how the city is meeting federal and state environmental obligations, to ask targeted questions about project timelines and community impacts, and to learn how city programs can assist households affected by sewer backups during wet weather events.