INFRASTRUCTURE | NEWS ANALYSIS

The New Orleans City Council is about to take control of the Sewerage and Water Board for the first time in the utility's roughly 130-year history. Here is what each measure on the table actually does, in language built for the people who pay the bills.

Kim M. Braud | July 31, 2026

On August 1, 2026, a new state law called Act 938 took effect. For the first time, it lets the New Orleans City Council regulate and directly oversee the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO), the agency responsible for the city's drinking water, sewer, and drainage. Until now, most of that authority sat with the state legislature in Baton Rouge, and residents who wanted a change often had to wait for a legislative session to get it.

The Council is moving fast to define what that new authority looks like. On July 30, a joint Council committee advanced a package of measures. The full Council is scheduled to take them up on August 6. Together they would give the Council direct say over SWBNO's budget, rates, borrowing, contracts, and top leadership, and they lay out new rules for how the utility warns the public during emergencies and how it treats customers who dispute a bill.

Below is a breakdown of each item, what it changes, and why it matters for you. One item on the agenda, the Infrastructure Project List, has nothing to do with the water board. It is included at the end because it is on the same agenda and voters approved the money behind it.

A note on the record: the measures grew out of a working group called PUMPS that the Mayor created to help draft the ordinance, that met privately before the ordinance surfaced in public. That process, and a lingering question about public comment, is covered in its own section near the end.

Some background you will want

A few facts that put the rest in context:

• SWBNO runs on an operating budget of roughly $467 million a year.
• The Bureau of Governmental Research estimates the utility has close to $800 million in unmet infrastructure needs.
• The utility's executive director earns more than $400,000, which several Council members have flagged as high for a public official.
• Under the old setup, the Mayor served as president of the SWBNO board. Under the new ordinance, the Mayor no longer automatically leads the board.
• The push accelerated after July flooding in Lakeview, Mid-City, and Hollygrove that SWBNO attributed to human error, along with pump failures and a boil water advisory.

The state law is Act 938, which began as House Bill 1243 by Representative Stephanie Hilferty and was signed into law in June 2026.

1. The main ordinance: Calendar No. 35,521

This is the centerpiece. It rewrites Chapter 159 of the city code to build a whole governance structure for the water board. If you only read about one item, read about this one. It does several distinct things.

It gives the Council direct authority over the utility. A new section spells out that the Council can regulate and oversee SWBNO, including approval power over billing policies, rates and fees, debt and borrowing, budgets and the capital plan, certain professional service contracts (such as legal, lobbying, and government relations consulting), and the hiring of the utility's top executive. Before this, the Council's clear authority was limited mainly to billing.

It keeps the board, but shrinks its role. The ordinance does not abolish the SWBNO board. Instead it makes the board subordinate to the Council. The board handles day-to-day operations, procurement, and the selection or removal of the executive director, but the Council must sign off on the big decisions. Board members serve four-year terms, are limited to two consecutive terms, are appointed by the Mayor, and can be removed by the Mayor with a written letter. The board elects its own president from its citizen members, which is the change that ends the Mayor's role as board president.

It sets clear emergency notification rules. SWBNO would be required to alert customers, Council members, the Mayor, staff, and local news media when certain things happen. The triggers include:

• An unplanned water outage affecting an estimated 50 or more customers, or any daycare, school, healthcare facility, apartment complex, or assisted living facility.
• A boil water advisory.
• A major drainage pump failure during a rain event.
• An electric failure at any SWBNO facility that hurts water, sewer, or drainage service.
• Any problem at a water treatment plant that threatens the supply of safe drinking water.
• A catastrophic failure affecting more than 10,000 customers.

The utility would also have to notify the city's emergency management office and coordinate messaging through NOLA Ready, the platform the city already uses for emergency alerts.

It requires an annual emergency preparedness plan. Each year by May 1, ahead of hurricane season, SWBNO must submit a plan naming a point of contact, listing essential personnel, detailing how it will communicate during a crisis, and describing training and equipment inspection.

It requires regular public reporting. Every quarter, SWBNO must report to the Council on the condition of its drainage, water, sewer, and power systems, on major repairs and capital projects, on any emergencies and what was done about them, on sewer overflows and environmental incidents, on progress under the federal consent decree, and on water quality testing in canals. It must also publish a six-month forecast of upcoming construction contracts and flag project delays of 30 days or more. These reports would be posted publicly.

It creates real customer protections. This is the part most residents will feel directly. Under the ordinance, customers would have the right to:

• Safe and reliable water service.
• Opt in to a fixed monthly bill based on their own past usage, instead of fluctuating charges.
• Dispute a bill, with no late fees, interest, collections, or shutoffs while the dispute is open.
• At least 10 days written notice before any shutoff for nonpayment.
• No shutoff during extreme heat or cold, on weekends, on holidays or the day before one, or on a Friday afternoon.
• Same-day restoration of service if they pay by 4 p.m.
• A meter photo, with a date and time stamp, included on the bill.
• Have an unpaid balance cleared if the account holder dies.

The ordinance also bans estimated bills, forces the utility to forfeit charges if it fails to send a bill for three straight cycles, and lets customers spread out a payment over as long as 24 months if a bill jumps 20 percent or more above their last real bill. It sets up an independent bill dispute process and an arbitration system, with arbiters appointed for each Council district and confirmed by the Council.

It aligns the budget with the city's process. The Council would review and approve SWBNO's operating and capital budgets, and starting in 2027 the utility must produce a five-year capital improvement plan with at least five public meetings, one in each Council district. For the transition year, SWBNO must submit its 2027 budget by November 15, 2026, and the Council must act by December 31, 2026. In future years the deadlines move up to October 1 and December 1.

Why it matters: This ordinance moves the water board from a semi-independent agency toward an arm of city government that answers to officials you elect. Supporters say that finally puts accountability where the public can reach it. Skeptics, including the Bureau of Governmental Research, have cautioned that changing the structure piece by piece without a full plan could create new problems.

2. The amendment to Ordinance No. 35,521

An amendment sharpens the main ordinance in ways that are easy to miss but significant.

What it does: The original draft said the Council "may at its discretion require approval" of the listed items. The amendment changes that to "shall approve." In plain terms, Council oversight of budgets, rates, debt, contracts, and leadership shifts from optional to mandatory. The amendment also makes clear that when the Council exercises its approval power, the board does not also have to approve. It replaces a simple "confirmation" of the executive director with a requirement that the Council approve the actual employment contract, including any raise or extension. And it adds a safety valve: if a required approval would break an existing legal obligation of the board or clash with state law, the Council can waive that requirement by motion.

Why it matters: The word change from "may" to "shall" is the whole ballgame. It is the difference between a Council that can choose to look and a Council that is required to. Requiring approval of the executive director's contract, not just a yes-or-no confirmation, also gives the Council leverage over pay, a live issue given the roughly $400,000 salary.

3. The Future of PUMPS resolution

What it does: This resolution is a statement of direction, not a binding law. Through it, the Council formally backs the long-term goal of a local-control model in which SWBNO's functions, assets, and operations are transferred to, consolidated with, or folded into city government. It commits the Council to keep working with PUMPS, and asks that group to build a roadmap and study specific issues: the effect on the utility's bonds and debt, how rate changes would be reviewed, where the city and utility could share services, and what a merger would do to employee benefits and pensions.

Why it matters: This is the signal that the ordinance is a first step, not the finish line. The stated endgame is bringing the water board more fully inside city government. That is a much larger move. Fully integrating SWBNO would require amending the city's Home Rule Charter, and a charter amendment must go to the voters. So while this resolution commits to the direction, residents would still get the final say on the biggest structural change through a future ballot.

4. The Civil Service motion

What it does: This motion directs the city's Civil Service Commission to do two reviews. First, examine whether SWBNO's unclassified employees are paid in line with comparable workers at other public utilities. Second, compare SWBNO and city administration job descriptions to find overlapping or redundant roles.

Why it matters: This is the personnel and pay piece of the overhaul. It sets up the data the Council would use to argue for consolidating positions or adjusting salaries as the utility and the city move closer together. For SWBNO employees, it is the early sign that jobs and pay scales are under review.

5. The bylaws motion

What it does: This motion orders the SWBNO board to write and submit new bylaws to the Council no later than December 31, 2026. The new bylaws must address the duties of the executive director and general superintendent, including whether those two top jobs should be combined into one. They must also cover procurement policies to ensure the utility follows the law and the city's fairness and equity commitments.

Why it matters: Bylaws are the internal rulebook the board runs by. Rewriting them is how the new alignment gets locked into the utility's own procedures. The most consequential detail is the invitation to merge the executive director and general superintendent roles, which could reshape the top of the organization and factor into the salary debate.

6. The Legislative Auditor resolution

What it does: This resolution formally requests that the Louisiana Legislative Auditor conduct an audit of SWBNO. The state auditor has broad authority to examine any public agency's finances, legal compliance, and how efficiently and effectively its programs run.

Why it matters: Council members have said they cannot properly oversee the utility without a clear picture of its financial health. An independent state audit would provide that picture from outside the utility and the Council both. It is the accountability backstop for everything else in the package.

7. The Infrastructure Project List resolution (a separate matter)

What it does: This one is not about the water board. In November 2025, New Orleans voters approved up to $415 million in general obligation bonds for city capital projects. Those bonds come with an official project list that the Council can amend. This resolution updates that list, adding and substituting projects and adopting a full restated version. New or added items include a master plan for Armstrong Park and the Municipal Auditorium, a citywide fire station alerting system, criminal justice technology upgrades, citywide sidewalk repairs, a Level 3 biosafety lab for mosquito and rodent control, new K-9 kennels for the police department, recreation facility repairs, and public school capital work.

Why it matters: This is how the city decides which promised projects actually get funded with the bond money residents already voted for. If a project you care about is on or off this list, this is the action that determines it. It shares an agenda with the water board items but should be read on its own terms.

UPDATE (July 31, 2026):

After publication, I requested clarification from the Mayor's Office regarding whether meetings of the Public Utility Modernization Process Subgroup (PUMPS) were subject to Louisiana's Open Meetings Law.

Andrew Tuozzolo, Special Counsel to Mayor Helena Moreno, responded that the administration's position is that PUMPS is an operational working group of the Infrastructure Coordinating Council (ICC), not a public body or mayoral advisory committee. Based on that interpretation, the City believes PUMPS meetings are not subject to the Open Meetings Law.

The Mayor's Office also confirmed that the PUMPS working group met at least four times and stated that the meeting agendas are public records. We have submitted a public records request for those agendas and related documents and will review them as they become available.

As always, this story will be updated as additional records are received and reviewed.

What happens next

The full Council is set to vote on August 6. The new state authority is already in effect as of August 1, so the Council is filling in the details of power it now holds. If the ordinance passes, expect the near-term deadlines to drive the next few months: a 2027 budget from SWBNO by mid-November, new board bylaws by the end of December, and the state audit and Civil Service reviews beginning their work.

The larger question of whether the water board is eventually folded into city government is not decided by any of these measures. That step would require a Home Rule Charter amendment, and that means it would go to a public vote. In other words, the Council is taking the wheel now, but the biggest structural decision would still come back to you at the ballot box.

Kim M. Braud is the Founder & Editor of Evans Cutchmore Press, an independent newsroom covering Louisiana and the Gulf South. Her reporting focuses on government accountability, infrastructure, business, culture, and the public policies that shape communities. Her work combines investigative journalism, public records research, and documentary storytelling.

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