Buried underneath the streets of Kansas City are nearly 2,800 miles of sewer pipes hidden from view, but serving an important purpose: to move whatever goes down the drain or toilet away from our homes and businesses to the City’s six wastewater treatment plants. There, pollutants are removed from the water before it is put back into our local rivers.

On September 27, 2010, a federal judge signed the original Consent Decree requiring Kansas City to reduce the volume of wet weather sewer overflows into local creeks, streams, and rivers. Originally planned as a 25-year, $4.7 billion program that would include dozens of important projects, it resulted in several years of double-digit wastewater rate increases for KC Water customers. City leaders began planning solutions for how we could meet these federal obligations, restore our infrastructure for the betterment of our community, and reduce the burden on our ratepayers. 

The first amendment to the Consent Decree was adopted in 2015, the second in 2018, a non-material modification in February 2020, and the Third Amended Consent Decree on March 3, 2021 following several years of negotiations. The Third Amended Consent Decree aimed to address the significant burden on ratepayers to fund these federally mandated (but not federally funded) infrastructure improvements. One change the third amendment made was to extend the final compliance date from 2035 to 2040, while outlining new performance criteria for reducing the annual volume of combined sewer overflows.

2025 marked the half-way mark through the 30-year program, and Kansas City is well on its way to meeting the Consent Decree obligations. Since the beginning of the program, KC Water has increased its capture of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) from 45% to 68.5% — exceeding the 2024 milestone of 66% — and is on track to reach the program’s goal of 85% CSO capture. This tremendous accomplishment reflects years of dedication and progress.

A Measure of Progress

Drive through neighborhoods across the city and you'll spot a few above-ground signs of progress: construction crews inspecting and lining neighborhood systems, green infrastructure installations along roadsides or in parks, and streets being repaved to seal in completed improvements. What you don't see is equally important: fewer sewer overflows into our waterways, more efficient treatment of wastewater, and a system that's prepared for the next 80 years of service.

 Kansas City is proud to be the first city in the country to include green infrastructure solutions as part of its EPA Consent Decree to reduce sewer overflows. To date, Kansas City has constructed hundreds of green infrastructure installations that manage more than 320 green acres, a measure of impervious surface area (like a parking lot or rooftop) that flows to green infrastructure where the stormwater is captured and absorbed.

Looking Ahead: The Next 15 Years

The Smart Sewer program was named such for its smart solutions to tackling sewer overflows, the smart technology it has pioneered in the industry, and the smart people who have worked tirelessly to improve Kansas City’s sewer system for the last 15 years.

As the program looks ahead to evolving technology and the natural transitions of a long-term public initiative, the mission remains the same: deliver critical infrastructure improvements, meet the terms of our Consent Decree, and restore our sewer system to best serve Kansas City for generations to come.