Atlanta is not the only city dealing with aging water infrastructure and rotting pipes.
But after Watershed Management Department crews spent six days playing Whack-a-Mole with bursting water mains, it’s time for a reckoning.
The debacle began on May 31, when two large water mains broke near downtown, leaving much of the city without water or low pressure and under orders to boil water.
The situation escalated through the weekend and lingered until crews finally declared victory Wednesday morning.
Amid the crisis, hospitals diverted and moved patients. Businesses closed. Restaurants lost critical Friday and Saturday diners. Concerts, sporting events, plays and other special engagements were canceled or postponed.
Residents had to find water to fill buckets just to flush their toilets. Fire stations handed out bottled water. Summer schools were closed for part of the week, leaving parents scrambling to find child care or miss work.
This is not how a world-class city operates.
We have corporate headquarters, major league sports teams, movie studios and a music scene that rivals any other. We’re the cultural hub of the South. We’re a tourist destination. And our metro area is now the sixth-largest in the nation.
We Atlantans are proud — and we should be.
But, as Keyanna Jones Moore, the co-pastor of Park Avenue Baptist Church in Grant Park, said, city leaders can’t ignore Atlanta’s foundation while chasing growth.
The city has already spent billions of dollars repairing and upgrading its water and sewer lines under agreements with the federal and state governments dating back more than 25 years.
And it will spend billions more to bring 3,000 miles of water pipes, some more than 100 years old, into the 21st century.
But the decades of mismanagement at the Watershed Department cannot continue, especially as the city looks to host the College Football Playoff National Championship next year and World Cup games in less than two years.
A city that wants to host national and international events cannot have this stain on its resume. Competing cities will not let event organizers forget that Atlantans spent the weekend after Memorial Day in line for bottles of water.
For years, repeated poor audits from the Watershed Department have pointed to areas of grave concern, not the least of which is $200 million in uncollected water bills. A December 2023 audit noted that “Watershed Management has not consistently enforced water shutoffs for nonpayment since 2010.”
Also troubling: A June 2022 audit found that eight years after more than 5,000 water meters and an $80,000 backhoe could not be accounted for, the department still had not implemented procedures to manage and protect its inventory, supplies and noncapital equipment.
Also troubling: The department can’t figure out the technology to accurately meter water, an issue other large cities don’t seem to have.
Also troubling: Water losses within the system. A 2017 audit found a loss of 9.9 billion gallons per year between 2013 and 2015. That old pipes leak is no surprise. That the department didn’t have an adequate leak-control program is.
Also troubling: The communications lapses as the water situation unfolded over the weekend. The first alert was sent at 8 p.m. on May 31, hours after the first break. The second alert came 12 hours later. There were other large gaps without information from the city.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens apologized and promised to do better. In ongoing emergency situations, communication with residents and businesses must be a priority, not an afterthought.
In announcing restoration of water services Wednesday morning, Dickens said, “We appreciate the patience and cooperation of our residents and businesses during this challenging time. Together, we have demonstrated the resilience that defines our city.”
That resilience was on full display over the weekend.
Restaurants served customers by shrinking menus, working ahead and providing portable toilets. The Fox Theatre kept a wedding on track by serving bottled water to guests at the June 1 reception. Volunteers handed out food and water to residents.
Atlantans can be proud of all that — and of the hard work of the Watershed Management crews who put in long hours repairing water mains in difficult situations.
Now, it’s time for the mayor and the city to look to the future.
Dickens has requested assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help the city develop a plan to assess and evaluate its aging infrastructure.
That’s a wise move.
Last month, Atlanta voters approved a four-year extension of a 1% sales tax to fund water and sewer projects. The tax is expected to collect more than $1 billion in four years.
That money must be spent wisely and judiciously to ensure the city doesn’t repeat this fiasco. After all, the 1.2 million Atlanta-area residents who depend on the Watershed Department must have safe, clean drinking water.
Make no mistake, Atlanta’s future is bright.
But only if it gets this right.
— The Editorial Board
