Members of Vermont's business community are pressuring the state to create a long-term funding plan for water quality projects.

It is currently projected that Vermont will have to spend about $2 billion in the next 20 years to comply with state and federal water quality regulations, but officials have not instituted a long-term funding source. Vermont Public Radio reports state business leaders held a press conference in Montpelier last week to call for a new water quality funding plan.

Tom Torti, president and CEO of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, says the fact that business leaders are joining with environmental groups to call for a financing plan should underscore how important it is to create a plan.