New Orleans City Council Approves Drainage Maintenance Ordinance Affecting Street Flooding in Multiple Neighborhoods

The New Orleans City Council voted 6-1 on July 8 to pass an ordinance that raises the Sewerage and Water Board’s annual drainage maintenance allocation by $15 million for each of the next three fiscal years.

The measure responds to repeated street flooding recorded after spring storms in 2025 and 2026, when the city’s existing crews cleared fewer than 40 percent of reported catch basins within the required 30-day window.

Allocation Details from Council Records

Under the ordinance the additional funds will cover overtime for 45 maintenance workers, purchase of two vacuum trucks, and contracts for private crews to inspect 8,200 catch basins in Gentilly, the Lower Ninth Ward, Mid-City, and Lakeview. City budget documents list the source of the money as a transfer from the general fund reserve established in the 2025-2026 adopted budget.

Residents who live on blocks where flooding previously reached doorsteps can expect crews to visit at least twice each year instead of once. Property owners who file repeated claims with the city’s flood assistance program may see fewer instances of water entering ground-floor units during heavy rain.

Implementation Timeline

The Sewerage and Water Board must submit quarterly progress reports to the council beginning in October 2026. The first round of expanded cleaning is scheduled to start in the 70122 and 70117 zip codes on September 15. City engineers project that the added equipment and staffing will raise the annual basin-cleaning total from 22,000 to 31,000 units by the end of 2027.

Any resident may request a specific basin inspection through the city’s 311 system, and those requests will be routed to the new crews once the expanded program is active.