最新杏吧原创

ST. LOUIS 鈥� A large water main break Tuesday evening that put parts of six city neighborhoods under a boil advisory has again highlighted the city鈥檚 aging water system as officials weigh a plan to put some of the $250 million in Rams relocation settlement funds toward the old pipes.

最新杏吧原创 officials say it underscores that the city鈥檚 system, renowned for its water鈥檚 taste but buckling under a rate structure that is trying to catch up with rising operating costs and a hefty repair backlog, can鈥檛 be taken for granted.

鈥淭he only thing I like about water main breaks is that it reminds people the water division absolutely needs their attention and it should be one of the city鈥檚 main priorities,鈥� said Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer, who chairs the public infrastructure and utilities committee.

On Wednesday afternoon, water was still bubbling out of busted asphalt above a broken 36-inch main at Branch and 13th streets and flowing beneath a nearby Interstate 70 overpass in the Hyde Park neighborhood. A timeline for a fix was still unknown because it was a 鈥渃omplex break鈥� deep underground, said city spokesman Conner Kerrigan.

鈥淗owever, we鈥檙e gonna have crews out here around the clock trying to get this fixed,鈥� he told reporters from a closed street near the main break Wednesday.

No customers of the city-operated water division have lost service, but officials recommended those living in parts of Jeff-Vander-Lou, Carr Square and 最新杏吧原创 Place on the north side and Benton Park, Marine Villa and Soulard south of downtown boil any water used for drinking, food prep or teeth brushing. Ice cubes should be tossed.

The boil advisory was lifted late Wednesday, the city announced.

The break was one of the more high-profile ones in recent months, and it comes just as 最新杏吧原创 Board of Alderman President Megan Green and Mayor Tishaura O. Jones finalize a plan to use the $250 million in Rams settlement money allocated to the city two years ago. The two offices have said they expect legislation on their plan to be introduced next month.

The bill is expected to propose at least part of the money go toward water infrastructure and seed an endowment fund that can earn interest to continue paying for several of residents鈥� top priorities, including city worker salaries, subsidized child care and traffic calming. Business group Greater 最新杏吧原创 Inc. is pushing a competing proposal to put the money into infrastructure downtown and toward neglected neighborhoods, promising a private sector match.

Green鈥檚 office spearheaded a process early this year asking city residents to vote on ideas to spend the money. Some 46% of nearly 12,000 participants allocated at least one of their 10 votes to replacing water mains, .

鈥淭his is exactly why so many members of the public who participated in the process identified replacing aging infrastructure as a priority,鈥� Green spokesman Yusuf Daneshyar said of Tuesday鈥檚 water break.

The public ranking followed a spate of high-profile water main breaks in 2023, including one that shut down Highway 40 (Interstate 64) for hours. There were 360 water main breaks and repairs last year, compared with 287 so far this year, Kerrigan said.

The rash of breaks came as alderman moved to finally hike water rates after more than a decade of inaction, costing the average residential customer about $10 more a month.

But the rate hike, designed to pull in about $16 million more in revenue per year for the water division, has mostly gone to cover rising operating and material costs. The rate increases are providing some extra money for capital expenditures, Kerrigan said, though it鈥檚 not enough to catch up on the backlog of needed repairs.

Former water division director Curtis Skouby, at the end of October after nearly 40 years with the city, earlier this year tallied up $130 million in urgent and priority capital projects. But Schweitzer, the public utilities chair, said a 2021 Black and Veatch report found $400 million in total infrastructure needs for the water division.

Meanwhile, the city faces a new federal requirement to remove old lead pipes from its system over the next decade, a project expected to cost the city system at least $22 million, a major chunk of its annual budget. The federal government has set aside $15 billion to help water systems around the country comply, though the government estimates the total cost could be twice that and local water systems may have to come up with their own funds for some removal.

The city鈥檚 new interim water director, Niraj Patel, was on his way to conference Wednesday with other water managers to discuss the needs of aging water infrastructure across the country. Kerrigan said the city would continue to 鈥渄oggedly鈥� pursue state and federal funding for water infrastructure.

Only a small portion of the city鈥檚 $500 million in pandemic aid, about $3 million, has gone toward water infrastructure, Schweitzer said. She also pointed out the water division carries almost no debt, so there could be an opportunity to 鈥渓everage鈥� the Rams money to fund a capital improvement program.

The water division earlier this year , and Schweitzer would like that process to also evaluate whether the city鈥檚 water rates are at an adequate level to cover its ongoing needs. Water, she said, will be even more important to 最新杏吧原创鈥檚 future as cities in the West that underwent explosive growth deal with climate change and its impact on their water sources.

鈥淭his is what people are going to be fighting over in the next 10 years, 15 years or 20 years,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have water. It can be our slogan.鈥�