Planning Resources

The Sewerage and Water Board, in 1985 proposed adoption of a drainage service fee in response to major flooding on May 3, 1978; April 13, 1980; and April 7, 1983. The proposal was made to fund $429 million in drainage improvements (mostly widening canals and increasing pump capacity) to meet the “Planning Storm No. 2” scenario from the Master Plan for Orleans Parish Drainage Improvements prepared by DMJM in 1983. The improvements were designed to increase the capacity of the system to handle a storm that equaled one inch of rain per hour sustained over 5 hours. The fee was structured by charging various land uses a tiered fee system based per 1,000 square feet of land. The issue appeared on the October 19, 1985 ballot for Orleans Parish voters and failed.

TBD

This plan was an update to a previous 1992 Water Quality Master Plan. The plan presents an updated list of recommended phased capital improvements to the water purification plants and includes three concurrent reports on Zebra Mussel control, G and L Basin upgrades, and a Water Treatment Plan Performance Assessment.

The Sewerage and Water Board attempted to adopt a drainage fee in 1999 in response to the major flooding in May 1995 and the need for major maintenance and capital upgrades to the City’s major and minor drainage systems. The proposal coincided with a sewerage fee increase. This iteration differs from the 1985 proposal in that the Board at this time believed that the City Council had authority to adopt the fee without a public referendum. This iteration also differed in the amount of revenue generated for capital projects, $810 million. Much of this is accounted for in the SWBNO cost share and maintenance obligations for the SELA Drainage Projects and a $190 million 60 Hertz power distribution and power plant conversion. This proposal included the same land-use based fee structure. This proposal ultimately failed to move out of the City Council.

This plan included assessments of SWBNO’s two water purification plants. The evaluation includes an assessment of the plant’s treatment practices and performance, a review of chemical feed operations, instrumentation and control features, and addressed regulatory requirements at the time.

This plan was developed as part of a comprehensive program to assess SWBNO’s water distribution system. The process developed GIS and a hydraulic model for the distribution system, a leakage management program, and a capital improvement program to address structural needs in the system over 20 years. The plan recommends replacement of almost all of the system’s mains and distribution lines at an estimated cost of $2.8 Billion in 2003 dollars. The plan was never made final by the consultant at the direction of SWBNO at the time.

This report was prepared by Black and Veatch in 2006 to outline the current and future capital investments that would be needed to restore S&WB systems to pre-Katrina levels of operation. The report covers the four primary systems run by S&WB – drinking water, wastewater, drainage, and power – and covers immediate, medium-term, and long-term needs. This report was prepared with the goal of summarizing all of the unfunded needs of S&WB in order to help these agencies and others gain a better understanding of total expected needs. Below is a summary of major recommendations or comments:

• The total capital needs over the next 25 years are projected to be in the range of $5.7 billion.
• 2006 – 2009 (Near Term): $1,888,646,000
• 2010 – 2014 (Medium Term): $1,401,000,000
• 2015 and Beyond (Long Term): $2,391,000,000
• Some identified grant funding for drainage and power needs was identified through FEMA, SELA, and the USACE

The City of New Orleans commissioned CDM Smith in 2010 to develop a plan for improvements to the minor drainage system. This plan includes models for historic and potential storm events and suggests improvements to the system to better address they City’s needs. The plan’s purpose is:

• Develop an understanding of the existing drainage system level of service.
• Identify opportunities to improve LOS and functionality of the system.
• Recommend a capital improvement program to meet the desired LOS.
• Provide database, models, and tools to support implementation of the system improvements.

Though this plan addresses only the City’s system, it does interface with the connections with, and other issues in the SWBNO major drainage system and provides key context on the system as a whole.

The Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan was released in November 2013 to directly address groundwater and storm water as critical factors in shaping a safer, more livable, and economically vibrant Southeast Louisiana. This strategy seeks to work in tandem and create multiple lines of defense with the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System and Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan. Administered by GNO, Inc., the $2.5 million plan was funded by the Louisiana Office of Community Development Disaster Recovery Unit. A regional advisory council made up of industry, government, economic development and nonprofit leaders guided the two-year process. The study area for the plan was St. Bernard Parish and the east banks of Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. At its core, the Urban Water Plan focuses on clear and direct issues which affect the Greater New Orleans region. These include:

• Flooding is caused by frequent storms common to this region, when the catch basins, pipes, and pumps of our current drainage systems are overwhelmed. Flooding causes not only property and economic damage but is potentially harmful to residents.
• Subsidence, the sinking of the ground, damages buildings, streets and other infrastructure, and makes the challenge of pumping storm water out more difficult. Subsidence, a result of dry soils that are impacted by drainage practices, results in the sinking of the ground, damaging buildings, streets, and other infrastructure.

The Urban Water Plan sets forth strategies to address flooding caused by excess runoff and subsidence.

This plan was a new effort to replace the previous 1992 and 1998 updated WQMP. The plan contains basic current information about the water purification plants features, conditions and function. It also includes an updated and phased capital improvement plan to address critical needs at the WTPs.

The City of New Orleans’ climate adaptation strategy. The plan contains 41 strategic actions to address climate change through three visions: Adapt to Thrive, Connect to Opportunity, and Transform City Systems. The plan contains vital information about New Orleans’ vulnerability, demographics, and a template for future planning activities.

This report was prepared by Black and Veatch along with Julien Engineers and Bruno & Tervalon CPAs. The general scope was to summarize operations of the water, sewerage and drainage departments and confirm compliance with the covenants of the General Water Revenue Bond Resolution and the General Sewerage Revenue Bond Resolution. The report also includes projections for future financial activity based on existing revenues and expenditures; as well as general comments on the operational aspects of the SWBNO. Below is a summary of major recommendations or comments:

• Current revenue sources for the Drainage Department are not adequate to meet operation and maintenance expenses and total debt service on existing bond revenue issues beginning in 2020.
• The Board should defer capital projects in the Drainage Department until an additional source of operating revenue has been identified and the SWBNO has the capacity to debt finance more projects.
• The cost of Board generated power is almost 3.6 times higher than that of purchased power; however, this higher cost is offset by the fact that the Board generated power is much more reliable.

The Facility Maintenance Division has been able to increase the amount of work done through contracts, however, staff have stated concern that contractor completed work often needs to be redone or inspected multiple times; taking away valuable staff time.

This analysis aimed to determine the potential improvements that can be made to critical SWB assets providing the greatest resilience dividend in terms of reducing losses against capital investment in current and future climate scenarios. It explores the cost of various risk reduction measures against the value of averted losses over the lifetime of the investment and provides an initial roadmap to prioritize efforts and maximize the efficiency of taxpayer funded initiatives. The analysis utilized Swiss Re’s proprietary Tropical Cyclone model for the United States (TCUS) to perform a risk analysis using both current climate and future climate change scenarios. The report’s relevant findings and recommendations are as follows:

• The Board’s power generation system is inefficient, well beyond its functional lifespan and is no longer cost effective. A new substation should be constructed at the Carrollton site which would be connected to the Entergy transmission substations via two underground transmission cables to provide more resilient redundancy.
• An in-house staff-hiring process needs to be developed in order to on-board staff faster; subcontract out certain critical vacancies; and aim to further develop relationships with local universities and colleges and extend this approach to other states.
• SWBNO management should engage in a full fire/explosion hazard assessment.
• SWBNO management should identify critical parts located at onsite warehouses and elevate their storage to prevent from flood damage.
• All historic data should be computed into an IT system and analyzed.
• Automate processes to give Central Control the ability to turn pumps on and off based on actual water levels remotely and give visibility to the actual status of systems receiving power across the SWBNO power generation system.
• Update CMMS systems to improve supply chain issues.

This planning effort was coordinated with the assistance of 100 Resilient Cities and the Rockefeller Foundation to address long-term drainage system needs considering the Summer of 2017 floods. The process included significant stakeholder engagement around high level engineering and cost estimates of future retrofits to the drainage system to address a higher level of service and climate change.

This report was commissioned by the City of New Orleans after the Summer 2017 flooding to determine the root cause of the events. The report contains extensive vital information about the drainage system generally, as well as specific information about potential causes of the flooding events.

The Sewerage and Water Board Task Force was convened as a result of 2018 Louisiana House Resolution 193 with the objective to develop findings and recommendations regarding the best strategies and procedures for the management of the sewerage, water, and drainage facilities and services in the City of New Orleans. The report contains many recommendations for improvement in SWBNO’s service.

The SWBNO Power Master Plan was adopted in March of 2020. The plan assesses the needs and capabilities of the existing power generation and distribution network with a goal of defining an economic, efficient, and sustainable path toward modernizing and improving the electrical power system to meet all power demands with adequate redundancy and robust resiliency. The study results outline a path to the most reliable, resilient, and efficient energy use through a combination of self-generation and electricity purchase. The Power Master Plan emphasizes elimination of the current cooling water cross-connection and steam production, while transitioning away from 25 Hz to 60 Hz power production and use.