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New Water Resources Department staff update: staffing, broken mains and a projected revenue gap

Santa Barbara Water Commission · March 19, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Staff briefed the commission on the newly created standalone Water Resources Department, workforce and training programs, recent water‑main breaks, a projected FY revenue shortfall of about $3 million and upcoming capital bids that came in significantly over estimate.

City staff updated the Water Commission on creation of a standalone Water Resources Department and on operational and financial pressure points facing the utility.

The director said City Council formally approved the departmental split on Feb. 3 and described a reorganization into five divisions to focus on administration, operations and capital delivery. Staff highlighted workforce initiatives—job‑shadowing, office hours and training cohorts—and said…

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