Allegheny County Sanitary Authority officials say the cost of complying with a federal consent order to end most overflows of untreated sewage into Pittsburgh's rivers, estimated at $1 billion nine years ago, will be significantly higher.

Testifying at yesterday's state Sustainable Water Infrastructure Task Force hearing in Pittsburgh, Dave Borneman, Alcosan's director of engineering and construction, blamed higher concrete, pipe and fuel prices for ballooning maintenance and system improvement costs.

Mr. Borneman said Alcosan is trying to hold down costs by using new, environmentally sustainable methods like permeable pavement, rain garden plantings and stream "day-lighting" -- that is removing streams from sewer lines -- to reduce the amount of storm water entering the treatment system. The authority recently requested $5 million from the state to help fund six stream removal projects.

Alcosan is not alone in its funding woes. The state task force, appointed by Gov. Ed Rendell in March, is working to identify how best to help water and sewer authorities across Pennsylvania fund more than $20 billion of maintenance and reconstruction projects needed to meet federal water quality and health standards.

"We need to take a more comprehensive view on storm water management and water resources," said Dana Aunkst, director of the state Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Water Standards and Facility Regulations.

"Much of the state's infrastructure is aging and we are quickly approaching a time when the many of the pipes will go bad."

"We can't put solutions to this crisis situation off any longer," said state Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, who chaired the hearing and is a member of the task force. "I'm willing to vote for taxes or bond issues to make the kind of necessary infrastructure investments we haven't made for many years."

Jared L. Cohon, president of Carnegie Mellon University and chairman of the Regional Water Management Task Force, said there is a need for a "regional approach to the regional problem." He said the task force has recommended creation of a water district planning authority to provide municipalities with regional planning services, help prioritize projects, and coordinate funding requests to the state and federal governments.

More than 60 people attended yesterday's hearing, the third of eight scheduled around the state. The task force must report its findings to the governor by Oct. 1, in time for him to use them in formulating next year's budget proposal.