SUNRISE BEACH — The recent flap over E. coli tests and state oversight of Lake of the Ozarks water quality has some residents convinced it's time to plan a regional sewer system.
The Four County Wastewater Task Force held its first meeting in May to discuss the project. Water watchers say a centralized sewer system to replace thousands of aging septic tanks around the sprawling Missouri lake would cost at least $150 million.
Concerns over the link between lake pollution and potential health risks go back decades. A Kansas City engineering firm recommended a regional sewer system in 1999, but the report was never acted upon.
The latest concerns built up last summer when a state agency delayed for one month the release of tests showing elevated levels of E. coli bacteria in the lake.