Henrico to build $303M water pipeline to fulfill ‘all current water needs’ for county

By 2031, Henrico will be able to pump enough water to supply the entire county through a new $303-million water transmission main.

The pipeline, which Henrico’s Board of Supervisors approved on Sept. 23, will connect the county’s water treatment plant in the West End to residences and businesses in Eastern Henrico. About 27% of the county, all east of Route 1, currently receives its water from a plant in Richmond, with Henrico purchasing about 12 million gallons from the city each day.

The 13-mile, 42-inch pipeline would be able to supply 13.7 million gallons of water daily to Eastern Henrico through gravity flow – meeting the area’s maximum need – and could supply 31 million gallons daily through pumped flow. 

But Henrico still plans to honor the county’s contract with Richmond, which extends until 2040, meaning that despite the new pipeline, Henrico will continue to purchase water from Richmond for years.

However, the transmission main is necessary for the county, said Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas, as it ensures that Henrico can provide all of its residents with water in case Richmond’s water plant fails.

“You cannot have one end of the county operating differently from a water quality standpoint,” he said.

In 2045, the county also plans to build another 36-inch pipeline for $263 million to accommodate any future population growth in Eastern Henrico and to possibly sell water to other nearby localities such as Hanover. The estimated cost of both pipelines, as well as the $25 million necessary to purchase property around the proposed sites, would total to about $591 million. 

The board of supervisors already approved $125 million in revenue bonds to finance part of the project during a Sept. 23 vote.

“We tried a regional approach. . . with [Richmond] City Council. [T]hose efforts were rebuked.
I think that is a mistake.”
– Henrico County Manager John Vithoulkas

Vithoulkas: Regional approach ‘rebuked’ by Richmond

After the region’s water crisis this past January – when Richmond’s plant failed after a power outage, causing areas of Richmond and Eastern Henrico to lose water for several days – Henrico officials decided to explore different short-term and long-term options that would decrease the county’s reliance on Richmond.

With the new water transmission main, Henrico will be choosing the five-year “mid-term” option, although Vithoulkas said that the county hopes to get the pipeline completed even quicker by using multiple construction contracts.

Multiple efforts by Henrico to take a more regional approach in response to the water crisis were “rebuked” by Richmond, Vithoulkas said, with joint meetings between the two localities ending without a clear direction forward.

“We tried a regional approach, to have conversations with [Richmond] City Council, this is all on record, and those efforts were rebuked,” he said. “The city felt like they could take care of their water treatment plant, and 'you guys go do your thing.' I think that is a mistake, I think I’ve said that publicly, but we have to take care of our residents and businesses, which we will do and have the means to do.”

Henrico’s new water main is “not going to be a surprise to anyone in the region,” Vithoulkas said, as Henrico has been discussing alternatives since immediately after January’s water crisis.  

“This disaster really taught us a lesson: we need to increase the resiliency of our pipes,” he said. “It’s going to consume a significant amount of time and effort, but when we succeed. . . we will have the redundancy to ensure that this never happens again.”

Residents will not see spike in utility rates

Construction of the pipeline is set to begin in the summer of 2028 and conclude by the summer of 2031, said Henrico Department of Public Utilities Director Bentley Chan. Although there will have to be temporary road closures, the construction likely will not disrupt residents too much, Chan said, because the proposed sites are already near current infrastructure.

“We’ve made sure that we’re aligning the construction in areas that are roads and areas that already have something in it,” he said. “So we’re not kind of digging up new ground for it. . . ultimately, we are putting things where we already have stuff.”

The county will also use about $25 million to purchase areas near the Richmond Raceway to widen the 16-inch pipes that bring water from the West End into Eastern Henrico. Additional costs for a new pumping station and water tank facilities at the raceway still need to be clarified, Chan said.

Henrico taxpayers will also not see “any spikes” in utility rates, Vithoulkas said, because some of the funding will come from the county’s general fund, allowing water and sewer rates to stay within the annual 5% increment adjustment.

The kickoff of the project represents a “great day in Henrico,” said Fairfield District supervisor Roscoe Cooper III.

“We asked you, Mr. Manager, to fix this problem for us and you all came up with the $300-million solution,” he said. “It just shows that when we are faced with complex issues and problems, we find solutions and we work together to accomplish them.”

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.