Big decline reported in active Fort Smith water leaks

The city of Fort Smith reduced the number of water leaks by almost 90% in 2025, with city crews fixing on average 5.3 leaks a day. The work marks major progress from just a few years ago when active water leak numbers were rising.

December numbers from the city show that 1,941 leaks were fixed in 2025, which is roughly 5.3 leaks repaired a day. The number of active leaks in December is down 89.4% compared with December 2024.

Following is the December water leak report from the city.

• Leaks repaired this month: 187
• Leaks repaired this year: 1,941
• New leaks reported in December: 191
• New leaks confirmed in December: 114
• Current active leaks at the end of Dcember: 78
• Change from previous month: down 99

Matt Meeker, director of Public Works for the city, said he is not yet reducing the number of work crews — now at five — focused on addressing water leaks. He has said that once leaks are more manageable, he will redirect some of the crews to work on federal lead and copper line material verifications, including replacing lines that don’t meet standards.

He said there is not a number of active leaks at which he will redirect crews, noting that each leak is different, with some requiring line shutdowns. He also said the active leaks are evenly distributed across the city.

City officials began to more aggressively tackle the leak issue during and after 2022 when the number of leaks totaled 2,575, which was 43.4% more than in 2021. The city reported 1,135 confirmed leaks in January 2024, with that number falling to 739 in December 2024.

Not all leaks reported to the city are on city infrastructure. Leaks from the water meter to the residence or the business are the responsibility of the home or business owner. The city urges residents to report leaks by texting “water leak” to 479-777-8311 or by calling the public works department at 479-784-2360.