Water woes: From St Louis to Kirkwood, cities face millions in water infrastructure needs

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) — While the sinkhole in downtown St. Louis under the highway is a visual depiction of disinvestment in the city’s water infrastructure, there are other examples in the region.

This past winter, residents in neighborhoods around Tower Grove Park had water gushing in their street but no water coming out of their sinks.

And three years ago, Interstate 64 was briefly shut down because of a water main break washing across the highway.

With countless examples in between, all these situations are making it harder to live, work and visit the city.

“There is no concern that it’s going to hurt tourism specifically, obviously if there is difficulty in getting to point A to point B, it can be frustrating, that’s why making sure people are informed and are aware and also know they may need to plan extra time for any traffic issues that might arise,” said Cat Neville with Explore St Louis.

With the interstates expected to be closed for over a week, Cat Neville with Explore St. Louis said luckily, no major events are planned at the Dome or convention center.

And while MoDOT, the city and MSD work to repair infrastructure and open downtown back up, the city of Kirkwood has also been dealing with the same problem.

“I think it’s one of the biggest issues facing the city,” said Kirkwood City Councilman Justin Arnold.

Kirkwood has had its share of water main breaks as well, including May 2025, when it was so bad that Kirkwood announced a boil order and many businesses temporarily closed.

They also have an aging system and have recently raised rates.

“It has become a substantial part of my utility bill, it changes your decision-making when you’re going out to eat, buying groceries, paying other bills,” said Ann Backer.

Backer said her water bill has shot up as Kirkwood has raised rates by 50 percent just over the last few years. And even with those hikes, they still may not be able to catch up.

Kirkwood gets its water from Missouri American Water, it is the only municipality in St. Louis County to distribute its water.

And while they are investing more than $2 million a year to replace their water mains, a consultant recently said they have $90 million in needs to maintain their system.

“I don’t think right now we have the funding to be able to keep up with it,” said Arnold. “We can either raise rates more, take on debt or look at a potential sale, so those are really the only options at this point.”

First Alert 4 obtained closed-session minutes from last spring referencing a purchase offer of about $27.5 million from Missouri American Water.

Councilman Paul Schaefer knew about the offer and was on multiple committees to explore options for their water system.

But he said one committee was dissolved, and the most recent committee’s scope changed from ‘What’s the best option?’ to ‘How do we keep our water system?’

Councilman Arnold said the public, nor other committee members, knew about the offer.

“The water sub-committee should have been given this information, they should have been able to study it, we don’t know where the logjam is, the bottleneck, but ultimately both council and the water sub-committee should know about the offer, study the pros and cons and then lay it out for the residents,” said Arnold

So, as the city of St. Louis ponders how to solve a problem that could cost $1 billion over 20 years, Kirkwood has tens of millions of dollars of decisions to make.

“I don’t think we can continue down the path of kicking the can down the road, I think we have to address this problem head-on, right now,” said Arnold.