Oklahoma has seen a dramatic uptick in water line breaks over the past year. From July 2024 through June 2025, Oklahoma City sprang 1,101 line leaks — nearly double the 621 emergency breaks addressed in the same period a year earlier.
In response, the city says it's doubling its budget for water line replacements in the new fiscal year, which started at the beginning of July. Next year, the budget will raise from $20 million to $30 million.
"These improvements won't happen overnight, but they are part of a sustained effort to strengthen our system, reduce future breaks and better serve the people of Central Oklahoma for decades to come," Oklahoma City Utilities Director Chris Browning said in a statement.
The city attributes the increase in leaks to aging infrastructure. Most of the breaks are occurring in pipes more than 50 years old. Oklahoma's red dirt also expands when it's wet and shrinks up when it dries out, which puts added strain on the pipes.
This announcement comes the same week a four-foot water main break brought low water pressure to parts of the city and closed all four lanes of the crucial thoroughfare, May Avenue, for days. City officials say they hope to reopen some lanes by Monday, but the road will need repairs after the water line is fixed.
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