Joint Committee on Quality of Life and Public Works Meeting – May 19, 2026
New Orleans Joint Committee on Quality of Life and Public Works Meeting – May 19, 2026
The joint committee meeting on quality of life and public works sanitation and the environment was held on May 19, 2026, with presentations from the Sewage and Water Board (SWB) and the Department of Public Works (DPW) on infrastructure updates, water quality, drainage, and the JIRR road program. Councilmembers discussed ongoing issues including water loss, sewer leaks, catch basin maintenance, and the progress of the FEMA-funded road reconstruction.
Consent Calendar
- The committee unanimously approved minutes from the April 14 and April 21 meetings (motions by Councilmember Willard and Councilmember McCarron; five yeas, no nays).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Sage Michael, a community advocate, commented on the Dwyer Canal issue, calling for SWB to publicly publish raw water quality test results with standards and locations. He also raised concerns about air quality from temporary sewer bypass pumps and urged the council to protect communities. Chair Hughes thanked him for his advocacy.
Sewage and Water Board Presentation
- Water System: SWB announced that the Algiers water plant maintained an A grade and the Carrollton plant improved from C to B in LDH water grades. A water quality master plan was presented, and a corrosion control treatment additive (zinc orthophosphate) will be introduced at the Algiers plant to mitigate future saltwater intrusion.
- Water Main Breaks: A precautionary boil water advisory was issued for a hydrant break in New Orleans East. Repairs continue on South Claiborne and Third Street. Immediate action plan received 27 RFI responses; satellite leak detection program launching. SWB reported that water loss remains around 70–77% of treated water, far above the national average of 16%. The financial plan for critical repairs has $4 million approved; external funding is being sought.
- Fire Hydrants: 649 hydrants inspected, 135 repaired, 13 replaced in 2026; over 400 open work orders remain.
- Sewer System: A sewer force main break under the Industrial Canal on April 17 released an estimated 50 million gallons over 10 days until the discharge was stopped on April 27. Permanent repair is underway. Recreational advisories are lifted; no impact to Lake Pontchartrain per samples. SWB will pursue insurance from the responsible vessel.
- Dwyer Canal Sewage Contamination: Multiple underground defects on six streets identified via dye testing. Repairs on Galahad Street completed; remaining repairs targeted for completion by end of June. Over $400,000 was invested to repair the Ceres pump station. SWB continues to recommend no contact with canal water due to high bacteria and hydrogen sulfide odors.
- Drainage: As of May 2026, SWB has cleaned over 1,000 catch basins and removed over 760,000 pounds of debris. Priority cleaning areas include Tremay, Lower Garden District, Algiers, and Audubon. There are 2,900 open 311 reports for catch basin issues. SWB aims to reduce the backlog and will shift to a drainage basin approach in 2027. Councilmembers stressed proactive cleaning and coordination with residents.
- Temporary Pumps: SWB acknowledged noise and emission concerns but noted use of electric or quiet diesel pumps; permanent repairs are the ultimate solution.
- Community Engagement: SWB held two 'Water Talk' community meetings in May and plans more in June; the annual water quality consumer confidence report will be sent in June.
- Hurricane Preparedness: All departments are on track for preparedness goals before June 1.
Joint Infrastructure Recovery Roads (JIRR) Program Update
- DPW Director Nelson reported that over 91 projects have been completed, and all remaining projects are bid and in construction. The program is on track for completion by December 2028, pending a FEMA extension due by July 1, 2026. A bundling strategy saved approximately $100 million, allowing an additional 100 blocks of street replacement at no extra cost.
- Scheduling: Two-week look-ahead schedules are being provided to council offices and posted on the website. The infrastructure coordination council dashboard is being developed for public access.
- Savings: The New Orleans FEMA Optimized Group (NoFOG) project bundling yielded significant bid savings; the reinvestment will be added to the program map once FEMA extension is confirmed.
- Council Concerns: Councilmember Harris raised issues with the Lower Garden District project (RR068) completion timeline and coordination with other utility work. Councilmember McCarron emphasized including Bel Air road and urged residents to contact Congress for support. Coordination with city bond projects is ongoing.
Key Outcomes
- The committee voted to approve the minutes from April 14 and April 21.
- SWB agreed to review the Arado Street barricade situation and remove them if work is not yet started.
- SWB will consider publishing raw water quality test results, sampling locations, and standards on its website.
- DPW will continue providing two-week look-aheads and updating the program map with the reinvestment phase.
- The committee supports the FEMA extension request and encourages public advocacy.
Meeting Transcript
Mm. Alright, good morning everyone. Today is Tuesday, May 19th. This is the joint committee meeting on quality of life and public work sanitation and the environment. Can I please get a roll call? Roll call. Councilmember Hughes. Here. Council Member McCarran. Here. Councilmember Harris. Council Member King. Councilmember Green. Here. Councilmember Willard. We have one, two, three members. We do not have a quorum. Thank you very much. What we'll do is we'll go right into the presentation from Sewage and Water Board. Director Heyman and members of the sewage and water board team. Good morning. What we'll do is we'll let you get through your entire presentation and then we'll take any questions. But let me publicly acknowledge Mr. Director, the fact that you have hit the road and have started going directly to the people. And I really really appreciate that. And as you continue these meetings, please keep our offices in the loop. As I told you, I definitely want to help with uh attendance for district E. But I really do appreciate you engaging directly with the community. And before you start your presentation, I know we had a uh little hydrant break in New Orleans East, so if you want to just talk about that for the benefit of the community. Yeah, good morning, everyone. Uh Caitlin Timrak, interim general superintendent. This morning there was a uh a broken hydrant uh out in the New Orleans East area, and as such uh pressures, water pressures in that area did drop below 20 for a short 20 PSI, I'm sorry, for a short period of time. And as such, uh we are presently um issuing the precautionary boiled water advisory for an area bound by Bullard, Morrison, and Paris, and then of course the lake. So our website is being updated now if it is not already, and uh our press releases are going out on that. So that is just an emerging item this morning. We'll be our crews are already responding and uh fixing hydrant, and we'll be looking into that further. Well, thank you all for uh letting us know so timely and and being so transparent with the public. Mr. Executive Director, uh turn it over to you. Okay, good morning. I want to say that we have a large agenda, but we want to make sure we highlight all the work that we're doing, and we'll discuss today our community engagement, our enterprise asset management system, our water system, our sewer system, and our drainage system. As you noted, uh the sewer and water board has an obligation to keep our customers informed, and to that end, community engagement is a major focus right now. Most recently we hosted two water talk community meetings in May, and we'll be scheduling more in June. It's our goal to go to all of the council districts in the city. Additionally, the annual water system consumer confidence report will be sent in June. And again, I just want to stress that we have an obligation to keep the public informed, and we will be doing so with the public meetings and doing more as far as uh leaflets and other things that can help inform the public about what's happening. And of course, uh using the social media. Next, we'll look at our enterprise asset management system. We're pleased to be making progress on beginning to implement our new uh enterprise asset management system. This system will replace a 30-year-old legacy work order management system, will give us the tools we need to manage all of our equipment from pipes to pumps to buildings in a centralized location.
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