SAWS trims five‑year CIP but restores full 77 miles of worst‑condition water‑main replacements

SAWS presented changes to its five‑year capital improvement program (CIP), saying the June plan of roughly $3.2 billion was refined to about $2.6 billion — a reduction of nearly $600 million — after reevaluating project timing, regulatory priorities and funding availability. Officials said the revised program preserves critical wastewater investments and restores a 77‑mile water‑main replacement program that had been briefly reduced to about 40 miles when the CIP was initially scaled back.

Cecilia (SAWS) and Robert Puente described the allocation schedule: about $450,000,000 of the 2027 CIP’s $567,000,000 is earmarked for wastewater infrastructure and treatment‑facility investments, while 2028 increases water‑main replacements and later years include aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) expansions. The SAWS board accepted phase‑1 of an outside capital efficiency study on Sept. 1; staff said phase‑2 has begun and identified opportunities to improve governance and stakeholder engagement even while validating many of SAWS’s current practices.

Council members pressed staff for assurances that the reductions would not jeopardize regulatory compliance; SAWS staff said the seven highest‑priority projects remain funded and permit/ resiliency requirements will be met.