Once again, the 50-year local water supply plan will come under intense scrutiny as the four boards that have say-so over local water issues come together on November 25. City Council is the body that’s now balking at the plan by passing a resolution calling for several studies before moving ahead with construction of a new Ragged Mountain dam. The city’s action seems to have riled the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, which runs the county, and the Albemarle County Service Authority, which retails water to county customers.
But if the results of that meeting don’t satisfy City Council, it holds a trump card: It gets to appoint the chair of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA).
RWSA sells water at wholesale rates to the city and the ACSA. It is charged with maintaining and improving all of the major local water infrastructure, from reservoirs to pipelines.
Compared to other positions on local government boards, the RWSA chair wields considerable power. All other members of the water and waste authority board are ex-officio. Because of local interpretation of state conflict-of-interest laws, the RWSA chair is the only member of the five-person board to vote on wholesale water rates—whomever the city picks will effectively decide alone how much city and county water users pay.
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If Mike Gaffney is not reappointed as RWSA chair, the water supply debate could take a sharp turn. |
Perhaps more important, the chair will also play a significant role in steering the 50-year water supply plan. Current RWSA Chair Mike Gaffney, a homebuilder, has been at the helm since the end of 2002. In 2005, a plan emerged that appeared to have consensus, and it was approved in 2006 by the four boards. The major elements of that plan were a pipeline to connect the South Fork Reservoir, which is rapidly filling in with sediment, to an expanded Ragged Mountain Reservoir, which is relatively safe from sediment.
But late last year, a local group, Citizens for a Sustainable Water Plan (which includes a former RWSA chair), emerged to challenge the plan. The four boards re-ratified their support for the current plan in the spring, but when cost estimates for the Ragged Mountain dam were doubled in September to at least $72 million, the critics redoubled their efforts.
Four people have currently applied to the RWSA chair position, and some of them are critical of the water supply plan.
Gaffney has re-applied for a fourth term. His reappointment would be a vote of confidence by the city in continuing with the current water supply plan.
But if the city opts for any of the other three, it could significantly change the direction of RWSA. Two applicants, tax accountant Mary Huey and carpenter Bruce Sherman, are critical of the current plan.
“I think particularly in light of the way that the financial situation has been unfolding in this last month and a half,” says Huey, 70, “we’re not going to be in a position in many years to undertake projects that cost millions of dollars without very serious consideration” about the costs citizens would have to bear. Huey hadn’t participated in the public discussion of the plan until November 3, when she told City Council that it should re-examine the plan.
Sherman, 54, was motivated to apply because of an interest in alternative on-site wastewater systems. “The whole world can’t really have flushed toilets,” says Sherman. “I flush the toilet and I see crowds of thirsty people.” On the water supply plan, Sherman says that he’s “very impressed” with Citizens for a Sustainable Water Plan.
The other applicant—Alex Foraste, a 32-year-old civil engineer at McKee Carson—says the plan is “probably three-quarters of the way there,” but he wants to take a closer look at the demand side of the equation. “Ultimately, those are a lot less less costly solutions,” says Foraste.
Gaffney did not return a call for comment.
Anyone else who wants to throw a hat in the ring has until December 4 to submit an application.
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