NEW ORLEANS — The drainage system in the City of New Orleans should be run entirely by the sewerage and water board, according to the findings from the Sewerage and Waterboard Task Force.
It's the major recommendation from the draft report issued today by the legislative committee, which was formed by state law to evaluate how the utility is modeled following its billing and flooding failures since 2017.
To make sure calls for service are better handled, the committee is recommending the city stop the split of drainage responsibility between the S&WB and the Department of Public Works.
According to the report, the drainage department will also run out of cash this year without a new source of revenue -- a familiar problem for the cash-strapped agency that has prompted ongoing talks of a levying an additional drainage fee for customers.
The committee is scheduled to present its report at a public meeting at the S&WB headquarters on Monday afternoon at 1:30.