(The Center Square) — New Orleans is aiming to fully absorb the Sewerage and Water Board into city government by 2028, moving beyond the oversight changes enacted this year toward eventually operating the century-old utility as a city department.

City Council documents describe a three-stage transition that begins with the local-control powers already enacted, moves through deeper operational integration over the next year and culminates with SWBNO becoming a department of the City of New Orleans in 2028.

The presentation calls it a “hard target.” Under the roadmap, 2026 establishes local control, 2026 and 2027 will be devoted to sharing functions, assets and administrative operations, and 2028 is designated for “full integration.”

It would be the most consequential change yet in a rapid restructuring of SWBNO since Moreno took office in January. Moreno made changing that structure one of the centerpieces of her first legislative agenda.

The Legislature passed Rep. Stephanie Hilferty’s bill in the spring, which gave the City Council broad regulatory power over the utility and allows the city to investigate SWBNO. Hilferty, a Metairie Republican, is now running for a seat on the Public Service Commission.

The City Council followed with an ordinance that replaces the board’s approval for many of SWBNO’s largest strategic decisions, including budgets, capital plans, rates, borrowing, major contracts and leadership decisions. SWBNO must also submit quarterly operations reports, emergency notifications, an annual emergency preparedness plan and its capital improvement plan to the council.

Moreno’s administration is now moving into the operational phase. The city plans to negotiate a cooperative endeavor agreement allowing SWBNO and City Hall to share employees, equipment, money and other resources.

The Department of Public Works would also begin temporarily paving streets after SWBNO utility cuts, an attempt to shorten the often lengthy period between underground work and street restoration.

The administration is asking the newly constituted SWBNO board to select a transition officer by Oct. 1 and produce a transition report by Nov. 15. Other immediate changes include rewriting SWBNO’s bylaws, developing an equipment-sharing agreement and continuing work on a proposed parcel fee that could provide a new source of infrastructure funding.

Proposed bylaws would also require SWBNO meetings twice monthly in City Council chambers, more clearly define the responsibilities of the utility’s general superintendent and establish a new process for selecting the board president.

Moreno created the Public Utility Modernization Process Subgroup, or PUMPS, in June to work through the transition. At the time, she cautioned that restructuring the utility would need to be “careful and methodical,” calling it a “heavy lift.”