Cincinnati votes to separate stormwater utility from Water Works

Cincinnati votes to separate stormwater utility from Water WorksCincinnati has taken the first formal step toward making its Stormwater Management Utility an independent city agency. Council members framed the restructuring as a means to strengthen accountability and prepare the city for recurring weather emergencies.

Council unanimously adopted a motion directing immediate administrative, organizational, legal and budgetary work to establish the Stormwater Management Utility as a standalone city agency.

The proposed agency would be separate from Greater Cincinnati Water Works and lead the city’s stormwater management, infrastructure, flood protection, compliance and resilience functions.

The utility would report directly to the city manager under the proposed structure.

The city manager said the review will assess budget implications, cross-departmental use of stormwater resources, efficiency and asset-improvement needs.

Cincinnati City Council has unanimously approved a motion instructing the city manager to begin the work needed to establish the Stormwater Management Utility (SMU) as a standalone agency, separate from Greater Cincinnati Water Works (GCWW). The September 30 action does not itself complete the separation. Instead, it directs the administration to commence the required administrative, organizational, legal and budgetary actions. Under the proposed structure, the SMU would report directly to the city manager and would be responsible for leading, coordinating and executing Cincinnati’s stormwater management, stormwater infrastructure, flood protection, stormwater compliance and stormwater-resilience functions. Mayor Aftab Pureval described the motion as a first step intended to give the utility the autonomy and accountability needed to respond to recommendations from an ongoing system review. He linked the restructuring to the “consistency of extreme weather” facing the city and said the review would examine required capital and operational investments. Council members repeatedly focused on clear responsibility for drainage and flood-related services. Councilmember Jeffreys cited street-drain cleaning as an example of a function for which responsibility is currently unclear between the Department of Public Works and stormwater operations. A single agency would make it clear “who to go to,” he said. Councilmember Walsh said that, after meeting with the SMU, he believed the utility had been treated as an “ugly stepchild” within the city, contributing to problems now being addressed. He called the restructuring “monumental” for residents frustrated by flooding. The financial implications have not yet been determined. Responding to a question from Councilmember James, City Manager Sheryl M. M. Long said the process would examine how stormwater resources are used across all departments, identify efficiency opportunities and determine what is needed to improve the asset. Pureval said the city would not fully understand the budget impact until the city manager’s review is complete, while stressing that stormwater is an operational and budgetary priority ahead of the next budget. Councilmember Owens said recent weather events had brought resident calls for greater support for the SMU. She also noted that the complexity of the system can result in the Metropolitan Sewer District being blamed for problems that are stormwater-related. The motion passed with affirmative votes from all nine council members present in the roll call. In remarks later in the meeting, retiring Assistant City Manager Kathy Bailey said she was ready to support work on the stormwater department as needed.