Efforts to expand water and sewer service to unserved areas of Surry County are moving ahead, with a series of public meetings set for July around the county.

The meetings will include officials from the county and the municipal governments within the county’s borders, as well as representatives of the Environmental Finance Center in Chapel Hill.

The meetings will explain in some detail options the county and other local governments have in determining how to service all of the county with water and sewer, or at least service the largest portion of the county at the least expense.

Having reliable, affordable water and sewer service is a necessity for residential and commercial development, and it will be good to see additional progress toward this being made.

Of course, local governments have been working hard in recent years, hammering out agreements whereby some municipal governments and the county supply water and sewer to one another, and the meetings in July are another step in building regional cooperation.

The local governments also were wise in hiring the Center to study the county and its water services, as it has been doing for the past two years. That study, combined with the Center’s knowledge of how similar projects have been tackled in other communities, will give local officials much-needed real-world information when they choose how to proceed.

Choosing the Center also shows the local governments are serious about getting water and sewer services to more county residents, and are willing to look at all options to do so.

We hope many members of the public will attend the meetings to become better informed on the subject, so when time comes to put in place some of the ideas the Center may bring to the table, those who live in Surry County will be able to more knowledgeably participate in the process.