Water supply issues may become impactful in New Kent County

New Kent County’s expanding growth has raised concerns about drinking and storage water within the locality’s borders.

New Kent Public Utilities Director Mike Lang spoke on the issue at Monday night’s New Kent Board of Supervisors’ meeting.

Lang began his conversation with county leaders referencing water shortages that have occurred in nearby Richmond, Henrico, and Hanover County. While he said most of those incidents were avoidable, certain areas of New Kent were already experiencing low water pressure issues, specifically the Brickshire area.

“We are one well pump failure away from having our own water outage,” Lang said.

Lang continued, referencing several other water issues that the county was already facing. With groundwater withdrawal permits reducing the county’s ability to pull from it until 2038, several other areas are feeling the impact.

The public utilities director commented that backup water at Bottoms Bridge has already been exceeded, marking the third time within the past five years. Lang added that if Patriot’s Landing was included in that number, it would be the 17th time within the same time frame. In plain terms, the backup well would not be able to meet the system demand 30 percent of the time. While backup wells at Old Five Lakes are currently functioning properly, concerns about a new well failure would put the county in a pinch.

Lang requested that water lines along Route 249 (New Kent Highway) and the Brickshire storage tank be addressed immediately. He said that if action isn’t taken soon, then next summer they are looking at mandatory non-essential use restrictions related to irrigation usage.

The public utilities director said that water usage is only expected to go up and that plans in the county’s CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) should be implemented. Surface water will become more mandatory in the future with groundwater and reclaimed water serving as backups for the next 30-50 years, but several projects will need to be implemented. The Pamunkey River Project, where surface water would be transported from, would assist with capacity needs with supplies currently costing $150,000. But that cost is expected to escalate with new businesses and developments coming into the county.

District 4 Supervisor Ron Stiers mentioned to Lang about a new proposed subdivision that may be located behind the Brickshire community and that the developer would look to pay for a new well. Lang responded that those talks had a “lukewarm reception”, with the developer already responsible for one-third of the cost for a well, approximately $2.1 million.

New Kent County Administrator Rodney Hathaway interjected, saying that proffers can only be accepted during rezoning, which the last one took place back in the 1990s. However, the county administrator added that talks are ongoing with the developer.”

For now, issues remain on how to address the issue, as the state’s Department of Public Utilities has already responded negatively to two rezoning requests due to potential impact son potable water supply.