Powhatan staff warn water and sewer systems need major investment to support projected growth

Powhatan County staff told the planning commission that the county's three water and sewer service districts will require significant upgrades and external partnerships to meet projected growth.

The planning staff presentation said the county's service districts ' courthouse, Flat Rock and Founders Bridge ' have limited remaining capacity in key areas. "Founders Bridge's systems are pretty much at max with really no developments able to happen on this system at all," one presenter said, noting the developer-owned utility has about 344 connections.

Why it matters: staff estimated combined water demand across the three systems could approach roughly 1.1 million gallons per day by 2045 when accounting for planned growth and a potential data center parcel, creating a need for pump stations, plant expansions and a second source of water.

Staff singled out a near-term option discussed with regional partners: purchasing water from Henrico County. The presentation described an estimated project cost to bring Henrico water to parts of Powhatan (to the 711 corridor and Route 60) at about $72 million. Staff also described the possibility of buying a share of a larger regional construct (Cops Creek) but said initial buy-in and annual upkeep would be substantial.

Officials cautioned that building a standalone county water treatment plant is unlikely without major capital resources. "We found a spot that could be a viable site for a water treatment plant," a presenter said, "but we also look at Chesterfield County building a 3,000,000 gallon per day plant that's going to cost them $1,000,000,000 dollars," noting Powhatan lacks funding to pursue comparable projects on its own.

Staff said county projects beyond the current fiscal year are not funded and will be considered through the FY27 budget process and potential grant (GRAMA) applications. They recommended the comprehensive plan update should reflect utilities realities and that the comp plan, in turn, can guide future utility investments.

The presentation and subsequent discussion also flagged uncertainties in specific numbers (transcript contains a phrasing recorded as "101 hundred thousand gallons per day" for a permitted wastewater figure); staff said certain figures remain estimates or were still being finalized with partners.

Next steps: staff will bring the utilities master plan data into upcoming workshops reviewing future land-use maps and will continue conversations with regional partners about capacity purchases and funding options.