Henrico makes headway on $304-million East End water pipeline

By next week, Henrico’s Department of Utilities will submit 50% of the design plans for a new water transmission main connecting water plants in Western Henrico to homes and businesses in Eastern Henrico.

Once complete, the 13-mile, 42-inch and 48-inch pipeline segments would allow the far eastern parts of Henrico – which currently rely on water from the City of Richmond – to receive water from Western Henrico, uniting the county under one water system. Henrico currently purchases about 12 million gallons of water from Richmond each day and is contractually obligated to continue doing so through July 1, 2040.

Henrico DPU, which has hired engineering firm Whitman Requardt & Associates for design services, plans to submit 90% of design plans in May of 2027 and 100% in December of 2027. By May of 2028, construction on the transmission main is set to begin, with an expected completion in April 2031.

DPU has already completed field and environmental surveys of the area and is in the process of determining pipe material. Residents nearby the Lakeside and Chamberlayne areas and residents in East Highland Park and nearby Montrose will see county workers surveying sites to take soil samples and digging utility test holes starting this October until March of 2027.

Henrico leaders first announced the plans for the East End water main last year, about 10 months after a Richmond water plant failure in early January of 2025 left much of Eastern Henrico without sufficient water pressure or without any water at all for several days.

“Before January 6, had a conversation on the county level ever occurred to design a project like this? No. So this was a major problem, and here we are two years later and 50% of the design is ready,” said Henrico Board of Supervisors Chair Roscoe Cooper (Fairfield District) at a board meeting on Tuesday. “We analyzed it, we designed it, we found the money to pay for it, and by 2031, this will be done. I just don’t want to lose sight of that.”

Starting in November, the county will need to acquire easements from a number of private property owners to secure the land necessary for the water main. The pipeline is set to cross through 7,000 feet of private property, 1,800 feet of roadway controlled by the Virginia Department of Transportation, 20,400 feet of Dominion Energy right-of-way, and four acres of wetlands.

The county already has mailed permission letters to about 45 private property owners about the 90 easements that it intends to acquire. Other nearby property owners who may be impacted by the pipeline construction also received county notices.

Henrico also will negotiate agreements with VDOT and Dominion Energy to secure right-of-way in areas that cross I-64 and I-95, said DPU Director Bentley Chan.

So far, the $304-million project is on budget, Chan said, with $50 million allocated to the pipeline each year.

Henrico officials also are continuing to meet with their counterparts from Richmond, Hanover, and Chesterfield as a part of a regional water workgroup established by the Virginia General Assembly this year, said Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas. The workgroup will need to provide a report to the assembly by November on how it will spend the $32 million allocated by the state to improve regional water infrastructure.

Richmond leaders are well aware of the progress Henrico has made on the East End water main, said Vithoulkas. But upon completion of the pipeline, the two localities will have to discuss how Henrico’s new self-reliance will change the county’s relationship with Richmond, said Varina District supervisor Tyrone Nelson.

“At some point, and I know we’ve talked extensively about this, once [the pipeline goes] online, we’re going to have to start having conversations about our relationship with the city,” he said. “But we’re not there yet.”

Liana Hardy is the Citizen’s government and education reporter. Support her work and articles like this one by making a contribution to the Citizen.