NEW ORLEANS — A new report from the Office of Inspector General estimates the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans wasted $19 million in taxpayer dollars over the past few years.
New Orleans Inspector General, Edward Michel, said the report revolves around water loss.
“The City has very limited resources, and we have to make sure that we are being good stewards with the limited resources we have in place. The taxpayers deserve nothing less," Michel said.
The report found that between 2021 and 2022, billions of gallons of water were treated but never billed due to infrastructure weaknesses, such as leaks and breaks, as well as metering and billing errors.
"SWBNO's current revenue level does not allow for the replacement of water mains at the level needed to address all leaks within the system," SWBNO said in a statement.
The report went on to say that the SWBNO did not follow industry standards to prevent or monitor water loss.
“We believe if they were able to collect the data and analyze the data, they would be able to determine the differences between water loss and consumption," Michel said.
With no data to report, the utility also failed to follow state law which requires water loss to be reported to the New Orleans City Council, the report said. SWBNO said it agrees that water loss control is important.
"We are well on our way to implementing the processes, tools and procedures that will make annual audits a standard practice," SWBNO said.
Earlier this week, the City Council grilled SWBNO leaders about failing to abide by the law. On Thursday, the City Council approved eight of the $21 million needed for a critical substation project that's aimed at improving drainage.
Meanwhile, bills that will tackle the utility's issues are making their way through the state legislature. Councilmembers Joe Giarrusso and JP Morrell said they would be hesitant to fund projects if the state takes over the utility.
“That $13 million, I will have grave reservations forwarding given the fact the City will no longer have any control whatsoever," Giarrusso said.
On Friday, state legislators will take up a bill authored by Rep. Stephanie Hilferty that addresses billing and the backlog of billing disputes.
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