The dam at Loch Raven Reservoir, one of the city’s reservoir sources. Photo: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Unofficial results from the Maryland State Board of Elections show Baltimore City voters approving Question H, the charter amendment that would create a Department of Water and Wastewater.
With all 295 election-day precincts reported, the unofficial count on the board’s Baltimore City results page is 113,992 votes for the amendment, or 77.05 percent, and 33,957 against, or 22.95 percent. Those numbers have not been certified. The page is still labeled unofficial.
The official ballot language says the amendment would establish the new department in the City Charter, supervised and directed by a director, and would transfer from the Department of Public Works the responsibility to oversee the city’s water supply and wastewater systems, along with related duties. It would also remove the charter requirement that bureaus inside Public Works be established or abolished by ordinance.
If the unofficial returns hold, the official text says the changes would take effect on Jan. 1, 2029.
