An Intertie Is a Contract Before It Is a Pipe: What Neighboring Towns Should Settle Before a Shortage

When a water main breaks or a well runs low in summer, small towns often look first at their nearest neighbor. A connection between two systems, usually called an intertie, can keep taps running while repairs proceed. Engineers know how to join two pipes. The harder work comes before the valve is opened, and most of it is administrative: who owns which section, who pays for what, who decides when water flows, and what happens to the bill afterward.

That work matters more when the money behind the pipes is in flux. Circle of Blue reported that "Communities across the country are facing a federal water infrastructure funding cliff" after a bipartisan cash infusion approved during the Biden administration expired. The State Revolving Funds, which help pay for projects such as lead pipe replacement and sewer repairs, sit at the center of that story, as Circle of Blue's report on the expiring federal water funding by Abigail Mihaly explains.

Start With the Map of Ownership

Before any agreement, both systems should know where their responsibility begins and ends. A meter pit, a property line, a road right-of-way, and a valve inside a utility easement can each mark a different boundary. Write down the exact point of connection, with a sketch and the names of the staff who can reach it. If the answer lives only in the memory of one retired operator, the intertie will be harder to use on the worst day.

Write the Cost Rule Before the Emergency

Water moved between systems is usually metered, and someone must decide which rate applies. The supplying town may charge a standby fee for keeping capacity reserved, and the agreement should say who covers testing and flushing after an emergency flow. These answers belong in a written agreement approved by each governing body, not in a phone call during a boil order. Public meetings are the place to ask about them. Check your board's minutes for any mention of the connection, and ask whether the agreement has a review date.

Plan for a Funding Gap Between Agreements

A funding cliff changes the timing of repairs even when no one has done anything wrong. A project that was expected to receive outside money may slip, and a line due for replacement may stay in service longer than the plan assumed. An intertie can be part of the answer, but only if both towns agree on how capacity will be maintained as their own pipes age. Ask each system whether its capital plan lists the connection, and whether upkeep of valves and meters sits in the operating budget rather than waiting on a grant.

Run a Test Before the Real Shortage

Agreements on paper are only a start. Ask the operators to exercise the connection on a schedule, opening the valve, confirming pressure on both sides, and closing it again. Record the date, the readings, and any problems found. A short written log, kept with the agreement, shows whether the link still works and who was responsible for checking it. It also gives residents a plain answer when they ask whether their town could really share water in an emergency.

Questions to Bring to Your Board

Several questions can turn a vague promise into a working plan. Who owns the point of connection, and who maintains it? What rate applies, and who pays for emergency water? How often is the link tested, and where is that record kept? Which party makes the call to open it, and how quickly must the other respond? Does the agreement expire, and who renews it? A town that can answer these in writing has a connection. A town that cannot has a pipe that may never carry water when it is needed.

What the Agreement Cannot Do

An intertie agreement cannot replace a local capital plan, and it cannot make a neighbor's pipe larger than it is. It can define terms and reduce confusion, but a town still needs its own repairs, its own budget, and its own record of what lies in the ground. Treat the agreement as one tool among several, and review it with the same care you give a rate study or a bond question.

Related coverage: St. Louis Water Reviews.