Two days after the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board issued its plan to fix the city's aging water infrastructure, city council members are demanding answers about why nothing has been done already.
Board officials say money's the issue.
"If we were to replace the entire system (and) do everything over, it would be $2 billion," Sewerage and Water Board executive director Randy Hayman told council members during a committee meeting Tuesday, adding that it would cost $28 million just to replace the urgent risk transmission mains. "We require a lot of funding to complete all of the necessary projects to improve our system."
City council members are questioning why the Sewerage and Water Board hasn't done more to raise revenues, including going to the state legislature to lobby for funds. Councilman Jason Hughes, himself a former state lawmaker, is one of them.
"The cost of doing this on an emergency basis far exceeds doing this on an emergency basis far exceeds the costs of doing it proactively," Hughes said. "I think it's grossly disingenuous to tell the public that the cost is roughly the same. The math ain't mathing."
Council President JP Morrell added that the city's unstable water infrastructure could lead to tourists not coming to the city and to major events passing on New Orleans.
"Do you guys understand what would happen during French Quarter Fest or Jazz Fest or any other major event when there is a boil water advisory?" Morrell asked. "Do you understand that we as a city try to get more people to come here to make more revenue for you . . . Do you know how hard it is to get a Super Bowl when you have five (boil water advisories) in a year?"
