What do Wichita’s crumbling water and sewer pipes mean for the future?

Carl Brewers moment of truth came in the heat of last summer, when a water main ruptured near Galichia Heart Hospital in northeast Wichita.

A hospital without water? Can you imagine that? the Wichita mayor asked. I mean, we were really scrambling. Rolling fire trucks out there, getting the people and plans in place for the quickest fix possible.

That one made it pretty clear: This kind of thing cant be happening in Wichita.

Incidents like that pushed Brewer to drop a bombshell during his State of the City address: The citys water and sewer system after more than a decade of little or no maintenance as past councils sought to hold mill levies and water rates steady is going to need at least $2.1 billion in repair and upgrades over the next 30 years.

Brewers announcement left a packed City Hall audience murmuring as they filtered out after the speech: Wheres that money coming from? Isnt that a tax increase? Will my water and sewer rates go up?

What do the crumbling water and sewer pipes mean to Wichitans? The city is not getting ready to do a $2.1 billion bond issue to fix the whole system at once. City officials have implemented a maintenance and repair plan under the leadership of Public Works Director Alan King and City Manager Robert Layton, and theyre going to do as much work as they can each year.

And no, your property taxes arent going up. Layton said this week that the council remains committed to maintaining current mill levies.

The ongoing work will be paid for largely through capital improvements project money, some borrowing through bond issues and other revenues.

About other revenues: If you enjoyed the days of steady water and sewer rates a decade ago, theyre gone. In their place will be annual percentage increases in the mid-single digits to repair and replace lines.

What the mayor is saying is that if we rely on traditional funding methods through our CIP, our water and sewer rates, GO (general obligation bonding) and cash, will there be enough to take care of the deferred maintenance of the last 10 or 15 years? Layton asked.

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What do Wichita’s crumbling water and sewer pipes mean for the future?