The upgrade to Atlanta’s failing water infrastructure will cost an estimated $2 billion and take 20 years to complete, according to Mayor Andre Dickens.
Dickens announced the estimated cost and timeline on March 18 at a press conference at Shirley Franklin Park, the former Westside Park that holds Atlanta’s backup reservoir.
The mayor said the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers and the Atlanta Water Advisory Group, impaneled after last summer’s water main breaks crippled parts of the city, are working to make recommendations for the upgrades and improvements.
Current Atlanta Watershed Commissioner Al Wiggins Jr. said the city had already invested in new leak detection software and artificial intelligence programs to monitor the 4,000 miles of pipes that run under Atlanta. He said leak detection devices have also been placed in critical locations like hospitals.
Wiggins said the city has also invested $15 million in upgrades to the R.M. Clayton Water Reclamation Center, which is Atlanta’s largest wastewater treatment facility. Environmental watchdog group Chattahoochee Riverkeeper filed a federal lawsuit against the city over ongoing pollution discharge into the river last September.
Atlanta Chief Strategy Officer Peter Aman said the upgrade to the city’s century-old water pipes will be a “large and complex” issue that will span multiple mayors and iterations of the city council before its complete.
Dickens described Atlanta’s water woes as a “100-year-old issue in the making” before introducing the incoming Atlanta Watershed Commissioner, James “Gregory” Eyerly, who will begin work on April 1. Wiggins has been promoted to senior advisor to the city’s chief operating officers.
Eyerly most recently worked as the Director for the City of Houston’s Department Water Division. He began his career more than 30 years ago and is well-versed in dealing with state and federal agencies, where the city hopes to secure funding for the project.
Dickens wouldn’t rule out a future rate increase for city water customers, but said it was too early to tell as the project parameters were still under discussion.
Eyerly said his longterm vision for the city is “water security with operational excellence with first-class infrastructure.”
“I believe we can achieve all of this through increased transparency and trust,” Eyerly said. “We need to talk about what our issues are.”