Organized in 1899, this municipal utility (part of City Government)
headed by executive director, Marcia St. Martin, operates the water supply, sewer and storm drain system used across the city. Drainage canals and the pumping stations come under the aegis of the S&WB. The city makes use of the monthly S&WB bills to collect a $12 residential /$24 commercial garbage pickup fee.
Operating since 1998 under a consent decree (Sewer System Evaluation and Rehabilitation Program or SSERP) to upgrade the crumbling underground sewer system the utility had spent over $181 million of the estimated $600 million needed for repairs through July, 2005. Some funding from the EPA has supplemented fees added to monthly S&WB customer billing.
Tied up in 2004-2005 with an effort to tie fibre optic telecommunications improvements to repairs in the CBD and French Quarter, repairs were lagging as Katrina approached.
Katrina made a mess of the system. All eastbank water supplies were contaminated through October, 2005. Parts of the system remained contaminated through September, 2006. Massive leakage plagued the water supply system for months. Sewers are still crumbling. The 25 hz power plant is old. Drains are blocked by debris. And to top it off the pumping stations at the ends of the outfall canals should be moved to the Lakeshore as they are in Jefferson ( and then NO will need "safe houses" too).
In December 2006 the Board's engineering contractor,
Black and Veatch released its study of improvements needed to the system over the next 25 years. Their estimate is that over $5 billion of work needs to be accomplished. (That would be over $25,000 for every one of the 200,000 people living in the city. That's $125,000 for my family.)
$2 billion is needed by the end of 2009. FEMA, SELA and Corps projects account for 60% of the total leaving $800 million unfunded. LRA? millages? user fees?
The December 22, 2006 rainfall and flooding emphasized the urgency of pump repairs and efforts to clean silt remaining from Katrina flooding out of underground drainage system pipes.
In December 2012, the City Council approved the S&WB plan to raise rates 10% per year for the next 8 years. S&WB already charges some of the highest rates in the country and far more than neighboring Jefferson Parish. Furthermore Orleans "water bills" are used to convey the $24/month city garbage collections fee (thank you Ray Nagin). A local newspaper reported:
The increases will generate about $583 million in additional revenue for the S&WB. Of that, only about $100 million will go directly to pipe and water system upgrades. Another $100 million will go to toward a bond issuance expected to generate more than $600 million for upgrades. The nearly $400 million remaining is planned to be used for day-to-day operations, S&WB debt and shoring up its reserve fund.