Anchorage faces $1.3 billion stormwater infrastructure deficit

The Municipality of Anchorage faces a $1.3 billion deficit in failing stormwater infrastructure, with more than two-thirds of the system already deteriorating and no dedicated funding source to address the problem, officials told the Assembly Infrastructure, Enterprise and Utility Oversight Committee of the Whole on Thursday.

Kenan Billups, watershed manager for the Project Management & Engineering Department, reported that 400 of the municipality's 590 miles of storm pipes (68%) are currently failing, causing sinkholes, road damage, and flooding across Anchorage. The deficit grows each year as infrastructure continues to degrade.

The stormwater system is currently funded through annual Anchorage Roads and Drainage Service Area (ARDSA) bonds, which address only emergency repairs and immediate failures. The storm system in ARDSA is deteriorating faster than it is being repaired or replaced, Billups said.

Assembly Member Erin Baldwin Day noted that Anchorage received $1 billion less from the state between 2015 and 2025 than in the previous decade, a shortfall that coincides with roughly $1 billion in deferred maintenance on city infrastructure. "We have a lot of legacy infrastructure that we have built, roads and pipes, things that are not indefinite resources, they do not have an indefinite lifespan," Baldwin Day said. "And so there is a lot of repair and maintenance that is now required because the new stuff is now old stuff."

Kent Kohlheiser, Director of Public Works, said water is probably the single biggest element that damages Anchorage's road system. The cost to replace the storm system along Constitution Drive in South Anchorage (about 4,000 feet of pipe and 4,000 feet of road) is estimated at $25 to $50 million.

The stormwater system is completely separate from Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility, which handles drinking water and wastewater. The Municipality of Anchorage is regulated under an Alaska Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (APDES) permit issued by the State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

Officials are exploring creation of a stormwater utility to provide a dedicated funding source. Mark Spafford, Deputy Municipal Manager, said subsequent meetings are planned to discuss different strategies, options, and recommendations.