Salina Has Executed 13.06 Miles of Water Main Projects Since 2021 as Costs Approach $2 Million Per Mile

SALINA — The City of Salina has executed agreements covering 13.06 miles of water main replacement projects from 2021 through the current 2026 project, according to Utilities Director Martha Tasker, as the cost of the city's replacement program has risen substantially in recent years.

Tasker told Salina311 that the American Water Works Association recommends replacing approximately 1% of a water system each year. For Salina, she said that equates to approximately 3.5 miles of water main annually.

At that rate, replacing 3.5 miles each year would represent approximately 17.5 miles over five years, although actual construction schedules and the timing of individual projects can span multiple years.

Tasker said city staff had proposed increasing funding in the 2027 budget with the goal of accomplishing a minimum of 3.5 miles of water main replacement per year.

The challenge, according to Tasker, is cost.

"Since COVID in 2020 and 2021 bids have increased by a factor of almost 5 times ($388,100 per mile to $1.907M per mile) and have not seen a decrease in cost per mile," Tasker told Salina311.

City project records reviewed by Salina311 show the same general trend: recent projects are covering fewer miles for each dollar spent than earlier projects.

13.06 Miles Under Agreement Since 2021

Tasker's 13.06-mile figure is slightly higher than the 12.76 miles Salina311 initially calculated from individual project records.

The difference comes from the city's treatment of its 2021-2023 KPWSLF project.

Individual contract records reviewed by Salina311 identified approximately 2.6 miles under one 2021 contract and 3 miles under another, or approximately 5.6 miles combined.

The city's current historical project table lists the overall 2021-2023 KPWSLF project at 5.9 miles.

Using the city's 5.9-mile figure produces the 13.06-mile total confirmed by Tasker.

The recent projects identified by the city are:

The 13.06 miles represent executed agreements, not necessarily 13.06 miles physically completed since Jan. 1, 2021.

That distinction is important. Projects can span multiple construction seasons, and the city's latest 1.08-mile project was only awarded Aug. 24, 2026.

City Says Target Is 3.5 Miles Per Year

Tasker's response also provides an annual benchmark that had not previously been identified in the project records reviewed by Salina311.

According to Tasker, the American Water Works Association recommends replacement of approximately 1% of a water system annually.

Salina has approximately 338 miles of water distribution mains, according to city records. One percent would be approximately 3.4 miles. Tasker identified the city's corresponding target as approximately 3.5 miles per year.

That benchmark is significant because more than half of Salina's distribution system is cast iron.

City records list approximately 175.2 miles of cast-iron water main, representing about 51.8% of the overall system.

The city has said older unlined cast-iron pipe can develop internal buildup known as tuberculation and eventually require replacement when preventive maintenance is no longer effective.

Costs Have Changed the Equation

The city's historical project table shows how dramatically the economics of replacement have changed.

An early phase of Salina's replacement program, completed in 2010-2011, cost approximately $388,120 per mile.

The city's 2021-2023 project was approximately $678,581 per mile.

Project 21030 No. 1 was approximately $868,211 per mile.

Project 21030 No. 2 was approximately $1.35 million per mile.

The 2025 project was approximately $1.47 million per mile.

The 2026 project is approximately $1.91 million per mile.

Tasker characterized the change from roughly $388,100 per mile to $1.907 million per mile as an increase by a factor of almost five and said the city has not seen costs per mile decrease.

The comparison does not mean every project involves identical construction.

Individual water main projects can vary based on pipe diameter, number of service connections, hydrants, valves, pavement replacement, traffic control, location and other construction requirements.

But the city's own historical figures demonstrate that substantially more money is now required for each mile represented by recent replacement contracts.

$2 Million Doesn't Buy What It Once Did

The increase creates a significant issue for Salina's existing funding strategy.

City staff said in its Aug. 24 report that an earlier $4 million-per-year replacement approach was not sustainable because of the time necessary to design, bid and construct projects.

After the city's initial approximately $20 million replacement effort, staff intended to continue annual replacements using cash on hand beginning in 2021 at approximately $2 million per year.

At the city's current 2026 project rate of approximately $1.91 million per mile, $2 million would represent only slightly more than one mile of comparable project work.

Again, that is a simplified comparison rather than a prediction of future project costs. Individual projects vary substantially.

It nevertheless illustrates the funding problem facing the city if it intends to reach a minimum of 3.5 miles annually.

At $1.907 million per mile, 3.5 miles would equate to approximately $6.67 million if future projects had comparable per-mile costs.

That is more than three times a $2 million annual funding level.

Staff Proposed More Funding for 2027

Tasker said staff proposed a 2027 budget increase specifically to allow the city to accomplish a minimum of 3.5 miles annually.

That puts the city's water main replacement discussion into a different context.

The issue is no longer simply whether Salina is continuing to replace aging water mains. It is whether the amount budgeted for replacement can keep pace with the amount of infrastructure the city says should be replaced each year.

The city's current Water/Wastewater Capital Reserve Fund had a balance of approximately $9.2 million when commissioners considered the 2026 replacement project.

The 2026 contract itself was awarded to Diehl Enterprises for $2,059,778, with a 5% contingency bringing the total authorized amount to approximately $2.16 million.

Nearly $13.7 Million in Recent Projects

Salina311's review identified approximately $13.35 million in original contract and project amounts associated with the recent replacement projects and emergency repair.

Documented change orders add approximately $361,294, bringing recorded costs associated with the projects to approximately $13.71 million.

Three competitively awarded contracts went to Smoky Hill, LLC.

Smoky Hill's original contracts totaled approximately $6.35 million. After recorded change orders, approximately $6.66 million is associated with those projects.

That represents approximately 48.6% of the recorded costs reviewed by Salina311.

That concentration does not, by itself, indicate anything improper. Bid competition varied significantly among projects.

Latest Project Drew Four Bidders

The city's latest project provides one example of competitive bidding.

Four companies submitted bids for the 2026 project:

Diehl Enterprises — $2,059,778

Nowak Construction — $2,304,572

Smoky Hill — $2,467,215

Mies Construction — $3,756,298

The city's engineer estimated the project at $2,243,225.

Diehl's bid was approximately $183,447 below the engineer's estimate and approximately $244,794 below the second-lowest bid.

Commissioners awarded the contract Aug. 24.

The project represents approximately 1.08 miles of water main replacement.

Change Orders Added More Than $361,000

Three projects reviewed by Salina311 had documented change orders totaling approximately $361,294.

The largest involved Project 21030 No. 1.

Smoky Hill's original $1,996,886 contract increased by approximately $185,821, or about 9.3%.

Approximately $85,977 of the increase was beyond the project's original 5% contingency.

The project's substantial-completion date was also extended by 117 days.

Records reviewed by Salina311 indicate the change order was signed Jan. 9, 2024, while City Commission approval occurred Feb. 9, 2026.

The available records alone do not establish the reason for that timing or what administrative authorization applied during the intervening period.

The Question Moving Into 2027

Salina's water distribution system contains approximately 338 miles of main, and Tasker says the industry recommendation translates to replacing about 3.5 miles each year.

At the same time, the city's reported cost per mile has moved from roughly $388,100 on an early replacement project to $1.907 million on the current project.

Since 2021, Salina has executed agreements representing 13.06 miles of water main work.

Not all of those miles were necessarily physically completed during that period, and the current 2026 project remains ahead of its completion deadline.

But Tasker's response establishes the benchmark the city is working toward: a minimum of approximately 3.5 miles per year.

With recent projects approaching $2 million per mile, reaching that target will require substantially more funding than Salina's recent $2 million annual replacement strategy if construction costs remain near current levels.

That is why city staff proposed increasing the water main replacement budget for 2027.