Henrico plans to rely less on Richmond water system following catastrophic city infrastructure failure
HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A recent water crisis in the City of Richmond served as a wake-up call to leaders in the neighboring Henrico County who have since announced they are taking the first steps forward in strengthening the county's own water system. "This disrupted water service in the county because Henrico and Richmond share the region's water resources under an agreement that dates back several decades," Henrico's County Manager John Vithoulkas said at the county's first Board of Supervisors meeting, since what has come to be commonly referred to as the "Richmond Water Crisis" in the first full week of 2025. This decades-long reliance marked the kiss of death to Henrico residents that week. An outage at a Richmond water facility forced the city into a state of emergency and an immediate boil water advisory, which transcended Richmond-City lines — pouring into Henrico County. "The underlying question, particularly from our central and eastern residents and businesses, is how will the county become more reliant on our system," Vithoulkas explained Tuesday night. Vithoulkas began the meeting by reflecting on how the water crisis unfolded and how the county responded. He explained how county employees disconnected Henrico from Richmond's water supply immediately upon hearing of the city's boil water advisory on the evening of Monday, January 6. Henrico attempted to route water from the county's Three Chopt Road treatment facility instead, but that didn't work. "At its peak, we had more than 24,000 of our customers without water," Vithoulkas said. But the scope stretched even further, thousands of other Henrico residents were stuck with low water pressure and potentially unsafe water. As they look back at the panic-filled week, officials concluded that something needs to change. At Tuesday night's meeting, leaders committed to figuring out how to rely more on their own infrastructure — rather than Richmond's. This recovery period encompasses an array of lessons and takeaways. Vithoulkas said officials have already selected two firms — Whitman Requart & Associates and Aqua Law — to investigate a series of pieces to this incident. He listed off a few of the things consultants will explore. "[The firms will look into] a timeline of events, evaluation of infrastructure, recommendations on how to make our system -- particularly in the eastern portion of the county -- more resilient," Vilhoukas began. "And contractual agreements that we have in place with other local governments. Additionally, the county will be completing an after action on our community response and public communications." The firms will deliver their findings to Henrico's Board of Supervisors on February 11.The county clarified that they -- by no means -- expect this 30 day period to entirely diagnose the broader topic at hand. This report represents just the first of many steps moving forward. According to officials, it will take many years and millions of dollars to restructure the water system the way they hope to.
VENN
HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A recent water crisis in the City of Richmond served as a wake-up call to leaders in the neighboring Henrico County who have since announced they are taking the first steps forward in strengthening the county's own water system.
"This disrupted water service in the county because Henrico and Richmond share the region's water resources under an agreement that dates back several decades," Henrico's County Manager John Vithoulkas said at the county's first Board of Supervisors meeting, since what has come to be commonly referred to as the "Richmond Water Crisis" in the first full week of 2025.
This decades-long reliance marked the kiss of death to Henrico residents that week. An outage at a Richmond water facility forced the city into a state of emergency and an immediate boil water advisory, which transcended Richmond-City lines — pouring into Henrico County.
"The underlying question, particularly from our central and eastern residents and businesses, is how will the county become more reliant on our system," Vithoulkas explained Tuesday night.
Vithoulkas began the meeting by reflecting on how the water crisis unfolded and how the county responded. He explained how county employees disconnected Henrico from Richmond's water supply immediately upon hearing of the city's boil water advisory on the evening of Monday, January 6.
Henrico attempted to route water from the county's Three Chopt Road treatment facility instead, but that didn't work.
"At its peak, we had more than 24,000 of our customers without water," Vithoulkas said.
But the scope stretched even further, thousands of other Henrico residents were stuck with low water pressure and potentially unsafe water.
As they look back at the panic-filled week, officials concluded that something needs to change. At Tuesday night's meeting, leaders committed to figuring out how to rely more on their own infrastructure — rather than Richmond's.
This recovery period encompasses an array of lessons and takeaways. Vithoulkas said officials have already selected two firms — Whitman Requart & Associates and Aqua Law — to investigate a series of pieces to this incident. He listed off a few of the things consultants will explore.
"[The firms will look into] a timeline of events, evaluation of infrastructure, recommendations on how to make our system -- particularly in the eastern portion of the county -- more resilient," Vilhoukas began. "And contractual agreements that we have in place with other local governments. Additionally, the county will be completing an after action on our community response and public communications."
The firms will deliver their findings to Henrico's Board of Supervisors on February 11.
The county clarified that they -- by no means -- expect this 30 day period to entirely diagnose the broader topic at hand. This report represents just the first of many steps moving forward. According to officials, it will take many years and millions of dollars to restructure the water system the way they hope to.
