Hours after the New Orleans experienced its fifth water main break in the last two months, two members of the city council's public works committee are calling on the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board to provide a "comprehensive report on recent water main breaks across the city."
Committee chairman Jason Hughes and District B representative Lesli Harris penned a letter to the SWB on Thursday afternoon. Earlier in the day, a 30-inch water main near the corner of Audubon and Willow Streets burst, flooding local roads, cars, and homes. That burst came after residents reportedly called the SWB to report leaks, but those requests for repairs were not acted upon.
"As the Councilmember representing District B, my office has received several complaints from residents about water leaks and recurring infrastructure issues in their neighborhoods," Harris said in a statement. "When these breaks occur, they disrupt daily life for residents and businesses. The Council needs a clear understanding of what is happening and how quickly these issues are being addressed. My office has also received repeated complaints of water being shut off without notice, notably from CrescentCare, a major healthcare provider in District B. They have experienced six water shutoffs in the last 18 months without notice, forcing them to cancel an entire day of patient appointments each time."
"As Chair of the Public Works Committee, it is critical that the Council has a full accounting of these incidents,” Hughes said in the same statement. “New Orleans is facing a real infrastructure crisis, and our residents deserve transparency and accountability from the systems they rely on every day."
Among the details Hughes and Harris want are a comprehensive list of all reported water main leaks in the City of New Orleans over the past twelve months; the location and date of each reported leak; the timeline for repairs on all leaks, including an estimated start and finish date; any available information regarding the cause of each of the recent water main breaks and whether the infrastructure involved has experienced prior failures, how the SWB notifies residents of water shutoffs; and how the city can limit consistent water shutoffs.
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