Henrico supervisors decry water system expansion ‘conspiracy theories,’ discuss planned fee increase with citizens

At its April 8 meeting, the Henrico Board of Supervisors discussed water system resiliency and expansion as part of a resolution to increase its water and sewer charges by 5%.

Three Chopt Supervisor Misty Roundtree and Public Utilities Director Bentley Chan both emphasized that equitable access to water was one of Henrico’s priorities.

The county’s proposed budget would begin to fund water resiliency upgrades expected to cost about $328 million that will allow Henrico to upgrade its own water system so that it will be able to supply water to all of its customers countywide. (The capital budget will include $50 million in the coming fiscal year and the same amount in subsequent annual budgets until the entire project has been funded.)

“One of the first conversations I had with the [county] manager when I was appointed was that, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ and we were talking about universal access to public water, public sewer,” said Chan, “so [that] if you need it, it’s in the streets outside your house.”

Varina resident and regular commenter Grey Montrose argued that lowering property tax rates while increasing water fees was a “giveaway to the rich” because the property tax savings would be greater for high-value homes. “We can only blame our predecessors for ignoring the long-term costs of infrastructure,” Montrose said, arguing that the water bill increase would amount to a giveaway to industry because the planned expansion of the county’s water system, she said is “pointed straight at data center campuses.”

Varina Supervisor Tyrone Nelson expressed frustration at claims that the expansion was linked to data center development.

“I do get frustrated sometimes because the stuff that people try to say continuously about us is not true,” Nelson said.

He said he’s heard claims that “we are a part of some great conspiracy theory to build a $328-million water line” and that “there is this big ol’ conspiracy plan to run water throughout Varina, not for its citizens, but for data centers.”

But, Nelson said, people he talks with in the district were frustrated that they didn't have water during the several days in January when Henrico experienced a water crisis as the result of a malfunction at the City of Richmond's water treatment plant, which serves portions of Eastern and Northern Henrico.

Many asked him ‘Why can’t I have access to water?’ he said. Nelson also noted that the county is still in discussion with the city about the future of Richmond's water treatment plant and whether Henrico ultimately could have a role in its operation.

“We’re not sold out to no data center companies,” said Nelson. “Most of us up here don’t even want them. And so, it is frustrating to continuously see it and hear it."

Chan told supervisors that data centers constitute a minimal impact on county water use, while Vithoulkas added that even the maximum possible water usage of a data center complex like that at White Oak Technology Park in Sandston (which is about 70% built out) would only be about 10% of the county’s water supply.

Later, Tuckahoe Supervisor Jody Rogish said that because they county’s property taxes go to a general fund, a change in property tax rates wouldn’t affect the money available for water system expansion.

No 'rate shock' from water, sewer rate increases, Chan says

Henrico Public Utilities officials estimate that the water and sewer rate increase for an average user who uses about 3,750 gallons of water a month would amount to about $3.68 a month. Chan explained that the average utility rate increase during the past 50 years was 2% to 6% annually, noting that “you can do a little bit at a time and not have what we call in the industry ‘rate shock.’”

He added that “there are other localities in this region who have not been proactive as this board in funding efforts in renewing utilities, expanding utilities for the benefit of the residents and have gotten very, very behind and have had to do pretty heavy rate increases to the detriment of the public.”

“Or, or, on the flip side, not maintained their facilities such that they break down and create a water crisis,” added Three Chopt Supervisor Roundtree, in a clear reference to the failure of Richmond’s water treatment facility in January. She noted that Henrico saw 374 water main breaks in 2024 and 207 so far in 2025. Many of this year’s main breaks were caused by pushing water through empty pipes in January.

“So another jurisdiction’s failure to maintain theirs increased the expense, or what we needed to do on ours, to maintain water for our residents,” Roundtree said.

During the public comment period, Vithoulkas also pushed back on a citizen who questioned whether pipes buried underground would change temperature rapidly, even if they were emptied of water, because the ground stays fairly constant in temperature below a certain depth.

“I don’t want to let that go,” Vithoulkas said, “Everybody needs to understand this.”

At Vithoulkas’s direction, Chan explained that the rapid movement of warmer water into mostly cast iron pipes created tremendous strain and caused many more water main breaks in the aftermath of the water crisis in January. He also explained that while the temperature stays more constant below ground, the soil is not uniform and so it doesn’t move at the same speed when it changes temperature, which also causes breaks.

Chan explained that much of the 5% water and sewer rate increase will go towards funding infrastructure renewal and resiliency projects. This includes major renewals along Staples Mill Road, West Broad Street and Monument Avenue, all of which have experienced multiple water main breaks every year for several years. Properties using those mains would be flipped to backup sources while the main was replaced, which will likely affect traffic on those roads as well.

Chan also said that customers who couldn’t pay the increased rate wouldn’t have their water cut off, because that’s something that only happens when the unpaid balance gets very high.