Kansas City Water Customers Are Paying To Finally Update A 100-Year-Old Sewer System
It’s been one of the wettest years on record in Kansas City. With climate change, the likelihood of heavy rainfall is expected to increase, as are flash floods. And cities are starting to realize their infrastructure is not up to snuff.
Kansas City faced that reality about 10 years ago, when the Environmental Protection Agency mandated the city replace its 100-year-old sewer system after multiple violations of the Clean Water Act.
Kansas City water customers are a $4.5 billion hook for the initiative, which the city is calling the Smart Sewer Program. To take the pressure off the sewer system and avoid replacing all of it, architects and engineers with KC Water have been incorporating some green projects, but the work is expensive and money is tight.