RICHMOND, Va. — Henrico County pays Richmond for a third of its residents water supply. It's a cost that comes with maintenance and a commitment to reliability under a decades long contract.
However, records requested under a freedom of information act request show Richmond's former Director of Public Utilities April Bingham did not regularly meet with Henrico's Director of DPU to formally update them on the maintenance and operating status of the water treatment plant.
CBS 6 asked for any email communications of meeting notes, agendas and reports over the last year between the two.
The results show the city only coordinated one meeting in all of 2024 with regional customers: Henrico, Hanover and Chesterfield counties.
That meeting was held in August to discuss Drought Response & Contingency Planning.
FOIA officers could not find any other means of the city providing updates or discussions about the status of the water treatment facility via email.
However, they provided quarterly meeting notes of meetings hosted by the Virginia Municipal Drinking Water Association.
It's an organization where DPU Directors across the state go to receive updates, polices, and best practices.
No notes or minutes were recorded from any conversations happening between Henrico and Richmond DPU Directors.
Joel Paulsen, a licensed professional engineer with 20 years of experience in municipality water systems, shared his reaction to the findings.
"Any community that is providing drinking water source to another community has to have very open lines of communications with them and specifically one about the quality of water but also budgetary considerations for equipment for critical pieces of infrastructure," Paulsen said.
A prior CBS 6 investigation showed the city was aware of critical electrical components that needed to be repaired for more than a decade.
Paulsen believes localities that are customers should be regularly made aware of infrastructure and maintenance issues.
"It'd be the courteous thing to do but that doesn't always occur. The utility supervisors usually makes the case to an elected board for funding to an annual budget. However there could be an elected board of representatives from those communities," Paulsen said.
Henrico and Hanover's Board of Supervisors have stated they plan to bring more oversight to Richmond's water plant because they are locked into the water agreement with Richmond until 2040.
"We can't do it like we're doing it now," said Tyronne Nelson, a member of the Henrico Board of Supervisors.
Both counties after action reports found their respective DPU directors were left in the dark for hours during the crisis.
Henrico's report also found that Richmond's DPU director was texting their DPU's landline phone as opposed to his cell phone during the crisis.
"If the county is going to invest dollars to get that plant up to a standard level to provide stable water to the Richmond residents and Henrico County residents and Hanover residents, well then this county is going to have a stake in how it's managed," Henrico Board of Supervisors chair Dan Schmitt said.
A spokesperson for the city says they have invested in new equipment, updated protocols, and appointed a new Director of Public Utilities since the crisis.
The city is still waiting the findings from their full after action analysis.
Henrico County plans to enhance its public water utility system following the failures last month.
They have allocated $50 million in their proposed budget to improve the reliability of local water resources and work towards their goal of establishing themselves as a regional water source.
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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