Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County Joint Meeting with Fairfax Water Board, Tuesday, June 2, 2026

Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Place: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 1h 25m (video)
Official meeting video (Fairfax County): https://video.fairfaxcounty.gov/player/clip/4165
Official Board of Supervisors page (Fairfax County): https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/boardofsupervisors/

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-10-27. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:00] folks if i could get your uh attention i want to interrupt a lot of good conversations here but i also want to be respectful of everyone's time uh especially when we're blessed to have a joint uh committee meeting with our fairfax water board and i just want to start things by uh welcoming everyone uh to this meeting and acknowledging uh first that um and i know the board will do this much more formal ways moving forward. But I also want to thank Jamie Hedges for all of her work

[00:00:35] with Fairfax Water. It is hard to believe that she is able to retire. Not sure how that happened and who signed off on that, but we are very grateful for your steady leadership of a lot of years on behalf of the residents of Fairfax County. I want to say thank you. And with that, we do have an agenda before us. And I know in speaking to the chairman of Fairfax Water that We have a lot of our commissioners here, almost a full house, which is wonderful.

[00:01:02] We do have all 10 supervisors here from the Board of Supervisors. I'm not going to introduce them because you all know who they are. But I am going to turn this over to Phil, who I know will start by allowing our Fairfax Water Board of Directors members who are here to introduce themselves.

[00:01:18] Chairman. Well, Jeff, thank you. On behalf of Fairfax Water, it's great to be here. We look forward to being able to share with you and the Board of Supervisors some of the challenges that we have. in providing the highest quality water at a most affordable price in the region. It's our pleasure to do that.

[00:01:35] We take that very seriously. We're going to give you a pretty big data dump today, a lot of stuff as well. And there's going to be some things that we're going to ask you for your help and support on as well. I do want to give a shout-out to my favorite supervisor to my left, Kathy Smith.

[00:01:51] Fair. You're all my favorites, but she's my favorite of the most favorite. That's fair. And I also want to acknowledge my fellow board members here, including the one who's shaking hands over here, Alan Roberson, who's our treasurer on our board, our longest-serving member, Burton Rubin, who's from the Springfield District.

[00:02:11] We have Nancy Colleton from the Hunter Mill District. We have Joe Camerata from Mount Vernon District, Harry Day from the Mason District, our at-large and very familiar face to many in this room, Tony Griffin, and Rick Dotson down there.

[00:02:26] Our senior management team, led by Jamie, and our two deputy directors, Scott Dewhurst and Doug Grimes, are here, as well as a bunch of other staff that can probably answer any particular question that you have about anything in exact details.

[00:02:45] With that, I'm going to turn it over to Jamie. So we have lots to do, a bunch of slides, and hopefully somebody's got control of the slides.

[00:02:54] All right. So we do have a pretty loaded agenda. I'm going to move through the overview portion fairly quickly just to kind of level set, since it's been a few years since we've had one of these meetings, and then I want to transition into some of the challenges that Chairman Allen referenced earlier, specifically related to regulations, water supply resilience, and some initiatives going on across the river that would potentially adversely affect Fairfax water, Fairfax County.

[00:03:29] residents. So as you all know, we've been in business for a while now. Next year marks Fairfax Water's 70th anniversary as an authority. And throughout all that time, our mission has remained the same, and that's to provide our customers with reliable and abundant water of exceptional quality and value. When we first began, we had no employees, no assets, no customers. And today we serve over 2.2 million residents of Northern Virginia, have over $2 billion in infrastructure, and are now

[00:04:09] one of the nation's largest drinking water utilities. Wholesale customers today comprise about 50% of our total production on a daily basis, and they've purchased about 50% of our treatment capacity. As you probably know, building water utility infrastructure is extremely capital intensive. And so the relationship that we have with our wholesale partners has allowed us all to benefit from economies of scale and then pass that benefit on to all of our respective

[00:04:44] rate payers through lower service rates than if each utility had tried to build a water system from scratch on their own. We have two sources of supply, the Occoquan Reservoir and the Potomac River. We own and operate two of the largest treatment plants in the Commonwealth and also purchase some water from the Washington Aqueduct, which is a division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. And we gained access to the aqueduct supply back in 2014 when we acquired the City of

[00:05:17] Falls Church water system. While most of our customers probably have no idea what it takes to get clean drinking water to their tap every time they open it. We have a very dedicated team of over 500 individuals who understand very well what it takes to get water to the residents and businesses of Fairfax County. It has been my honor and privilege to lead this team for the last five years. They really are our greatest asset. They're dedicated to our mission, and they take tremendous

[00:05:53] pride in being part of an anchor institution for the community that we serve. 24/7, 365, they're keeping the water flowing, oftentimes in very challenging conditions.

[00:06:09] Every year we prepare a 10-year capital improvement program, and as part of our agreement with the Board of Supervisors, that CIP is transmitted to the county and a portion of it is incorporated within the county's own CIP. To ensure that we're planning infrastructure to meet growth, we rely on population and employment forecasts from the county and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, and we also ensure that our planned facilities meet the policy plan requirements of the county's comprehensive plan. Our CIP incorporates improvements that are

[00:06:46] necessary to meet regulatory needs and to ensure that our existing assets remain reliable and safe for our employees and the community. Of the $2 billion in infrastructure, almost half of it is located underground and nobody ever sees it. So we have a tremendous portion of our CIP dedicated to making sure that those hidden assets remain serviceable. Today, we enjoy a much lower break rate in our water mains than many area water utilities. And the goal of this particular

[00:07:23] part of our CIP program is to ensure that our distribution system continues to provide customers a high level of service reliability. When we acquired the City of Falls Church and City of Fairfax water systems in 2014, the miles of water main and number of hydrants that we owned and needed to maintain increased 20% overnight. We recently constructed the Central and Willard maintenance facilities to provide improved service to the central and northeastern parts

[00:07:59] of the county and to replace a nearly 50-year-old facility in Chantilly that no longer met our needs. These facilities house our distribution crews who are responsible for preventive maintenance activities on water mains, valves and hydrants, and for emergency response on main breaks.

[00:08:18] We are now nearing the completion of a pump station that we call Sleepy Hollow, which is located in the Mason District, and this project was necessary to improve pressure and support the county's comprehensive plan in the Seven Corners area. Much of the area that will be served by this pumping station was part of the former City of Falls Church system, which, as you may recall, previously provided water service to about 100,000 county residents.

[00:08:47] We continue to make investments in electrical systems at our treatment plants and pumping stations to provide resiliency, operational flexibility, and achieve energy savings. We recently completed a new crossing of the Occoquan River to improve service to our wholesale customers in Prince William County and Dale City. And we also maintain a comprehensive asset management program for our water tanks, inspecting, rehabilitating, and painting a portion of them every year. I did want to mention one water tank in particular that is beyond rehabilitation and

[00:09:27] that is our Wilston tank. This was one of the assets that we acquired with the City of Falls Church water system and I wanted to bring it up because this board as well as the Planning Commission will be seeing an application from Fairfax Water later this year to get the land use approvals to replace the tank. The existing tank is inadequate to meet the needs of the current service area, and the new tank will provide improved service to the existing customers as well as support the growth that's anticipated in the comprehensive plan for the Seven Corners area.

[00:10:01] As you know, Fairfax Water is a completely self-supporting entity. Our operations are funded entirely from the rates, fees, and charges for the water service we provide. We issue revenue bonds to construct our capital facilities, and for the last 23 years, we have maintained a triple-A bond rating from all three major rating agencies. Our customers enjoy the lowest rates in the Washington metro area. I want to point out on this graph that our wholesale

[00:10:38] partners, shown in dark blue, many of whom also share in those low rates from a regional perspective, our rates right now are about half of what a D.C. water customer would pay and just under half of what a WSSC customer would pay, which are utilities that are of the same scale as Fairfax Water.

[00:11:03] And while our customers are expected to continue to enjoy regionally low rates, there are a number of upward pressures on water utilities with respect to operating and capital costs nationally. After many years without significant new regulations, EPA finalized new rules for PFAS and lead, and we're expecting them to issue new rules for other water quality parameters in the next few years. These rules have potentially significant costs depending on a particular

[00:11:38] utility's situation. Developing new water resources to address climate resiliency and to meet growth are also significant investments for the future. And as source waters degrade in quality from climate impacts and upstream industrial discharges, water treatment becomes more challenging and costly. Major operating inputs such as power and chemicals and construction costs at our utility as well as others nationally have increased at rates far exceeding CPI in recent

[00:12:12] years. You may not be aware that the federal government doesn't provide a lot of funding for drinking water infrastructure. Less than four percent in 2023. I was kind of shocked when I saw that number. So that means that the costs for our infrastructure and the service we provide obviously are overwhelmingly borne by ratepayers, not only Fairfax Waters, but other water utilities across the country. We are an efficient and effective utility, and we do benefit from large economies of scale. And while we expect to be able to keep rates lower than many utilities on a

[00:12:50] relative basis, we will not likely be immune from increasing costs to address some of these trends that I just referenced. I want to highlight a couple of our outreach programs. For the last 25 years, we have provided grants to support community efforts related to tangible source water protection projects and water supply education programs within our source watersheds and drinking water service areas. To date, we have awarded over $1.1 million and provided over

[00:13:27] 240 grants to nonprofits that help advance these issues. Grants are awarded to groups small and large. And the application period typically begins in February and runs through May. And our team would be happy to provide additional information for you and your team to help get the word out about that opportunity for next year's cycle. We also have a number of other customer education and outreach efforts. And our team really does enjoy telling the story about water and telling the story about Fairfax Water and look forward to opportunities to work with you and your teams

[00:14:06] on special district events that you may be hosting coming up so that we can help spread the word about drinking water. All right, so I'm going to move now into talking a little bit about regulatory compliance issues. I want to start off by providing some background about drinking water regulations. There are over 90 contaminants that are regulated in drinking water, and we comply with every one, in most cases at levels substantially below the regulatory limit. We have

[00:14:44] an in-house laboratory which is certified by the Commonwealth. It's located at our Corbillis plant in Herndon. We collect over 10,000 samples a year and perform over 44,000 analyses to ensure not only our regulatory compliance, but to monitor our treatment processes and make sure we're producing the best quality water possible. We also provide analytical support for several of our wholesale customers and participate in numerous research efforts to try to be proactive about treatment optimization and emerging contaminants of concern before they even are regulated. Ensuring safe

[00:15:24] drinking water is our core mission, and we are proud that we have never had a Safe Drinking Water Act violation. We are the only one of the 25 largest utilities in the country to be able to say that, so our customers can be confident in the quality of the water that we are providing to them. I want to focus next on two new EPA regulations that have been a significant focus for us over the last couple of years. The first relates to lead and copper. Previous

[00:15:58] EPA regulations on lead and copper have focused mostly on the amount of lead in drinking water, And our levels have been usually about a tenth of what the regulatory limit is, so very low. But as you probably know, lead can have significant health impacts across really all age groups.

[00:16:18] So with that in mind, EPA issued new lead regulations to focus on eliminating lead service lines, which are actually the source of lead in drinking water. And the regulations required all utilities to identify the material, not only for the service lines owned by the utility, but for the service lines owned by the customer, with the goal of eliminating all of the lead service lines to address the water quality issues.

[00:16:49] You can imagine that's a challenge when we're asked to identify infrastructure that we have no records on that exist on private property, but I'm pleased to say that through a number of parallel efforts. Our team has been able to reduce to 31 out of nearly 300,000 the number of service lines that we own that are led or that we still don't know the material for, and all of those are located in the Belhaven area. We continue to work with the community to get those identified,

[00:17:22] and we'll have them replaced by the end of next year. On the customer-owned side, we're down to less than 120 that still need to be dealt with. And we're continuing to work with customers on that as well. So huge progress over the last couple of years for our team. The other major regulation that we've been focused on is PFAS. And you may recall in 2024, EPA finalized a rule for six PFAS compounds in drinking water. And as I shared with this board's environmental committee

[00:17:57] in October of 2024, Fairfax Water's treatment plant sourced by the Occoquan Reservoir is not able to meet EPA's limits for PFOA, which is one of the regulated compounds, and we are uncomfortably close to the limit for PFOS. So we have embarked on a four-pronged strategy to address PFAS. First, we have installed a pilot facility to test various treatment approaches to remove PFAS with the goal of finding the one that is the most cost effective in the long term

[00:18:33] for our rate payers. Second, we initiated a substantial research effort on the Occoquan Reservoir with the Occoquan Watershed Monitoring Lab, which is an arm of Virginia Tech, to try to identify potential sources of PFAS with the goal of stopping it at the source. Third, we have been active in the General Assembly. Most notably, in 2025, we worked with then-Delegate David Bulova to introduce and pass legislation that would require certain dischargers to the Occoquan

[00:19:08] Reservoir or UOSA to remove PFAS to levels that meet the drinking water regulation. It is the only regulation I'm aware of in this country that has those kinds of limits. PFAS that is removed to the source is PFAS that does not have to be removed in our treatment processes. Source control improves water quality not only in the environment, but translates to reduced costs for our rate payers.

[00:19:37] And lastly, we filed suit against PFAS-containing firefoam manufacturers for the widespread contamination with PFAS of the Occoquan Reservoir and the Potomac River and the watersheds that feed them. Some of these manufacturers have offered court-approved settlements to drinking water utilities to partially compensate them for PFAS pollution. Fairfax Water elected not to accept those settlements and filed suit independently because the settlements offered do not begin to

[00:20:16] meet the costs of removing PFAS chemicals from the water we deliver. We believe that our rate payers should not bear the enormous cost of PFAS treatment and cleanup, and that those costs rightfully belong to the companies that profited from PFAS chemicals while hiding the known harms to the environment and human health. The lawsuit seeks damages as well as injunctive relief to remediate damage to Fairfax water resources. So we've been monitoring for PFAS since 2021.

[00:20:52] The regulation was finalized in 2024, but ever since we started monitoring, we have been sharing the results on our website as well as in our annual Consumer Confidence Report. To demonstrate compliance with the EPA rule, utilities actually have to begin monitoring in April of 2028 to demonstrate compliance by April to 2029 when the regulation takes effect.

[00:21:23] As a result of our treatment study efforts, we are fast-tracking the construction of a powder-activated carbon system that has numerous treatment benefits but can also be used to achieve initial compliance with the PFAS rule. Through our Occoquan Research Program, we have identified several PFAS hotspots in the watershed, and our research efforts not only informed the legislation that we worked with then-delegate Bolova on in 2025, but they are supporting our ongoing efforts to work with other stakeholders to understand the

[00:21:57] sources, fate, and transport of PFAS in this vital resource. And while the PAC system will enable Fairfax Water to achieve initial compliance with the PFAS regulation, our research efforts continue to help us understand the most cost-effective long-term solution, as well as to plan for the impacts of PFAS on our future source water development efforts and process waste streams. The reductions in PFAS and the Occoquan are key to determining whether PAC is

[00:22:31] the ultimate solution or if a more capital intensive but lower operating cost solution will be required. Unfortunately, none of the PFAS removal technologies available at our scale actually destroy PFAS. All we're doing is removing it from the water column and adhering it to a solid material that then has to be properly disposed of. And one of our concerns, which is shared by the industry, is that the long-term availability and cost of disposing of those PFAS

[00:23:05] laden residuals is going to be a significant issue to deal with in the coming years. We remain actively engaged and leading a number of PFAS research efforts on both the Occoquan and the Potomac sources. Working with our regional utility partners and university researchers, We will develop a better understanding of the prevalence, fate, and transport of these compounds.

[00:23:33] One effort I wanted to highlight is that to establish a research center to mitigate PFAS, and that is an effort that's being led by Virginia Tech and George Mason University here locally, and they have been seeking congressional funding from Representative Walkinshaw, and that's an effort that we think is going to pay off in the coming years for this region as we deal with this issue. While there are thousands, literally thousands of PFAS compounds today, fewer than 50 of them have approved EPA analytical methods for measuring them. The EPA

[00:24:12] recently added more PFAS compounds to its draft contaminant candidate list for potential monitoring and regulation in the future. So PFAS, from where I sit, is going to be a generational issue, not mine, but definitely a generational issue. And our continued efforts on research are necessary absolutely to make sure we're protecting our water resources and providing the best quality water for our customers at the lowest possible cost. So we remain proactive

[00:24:49] about drinking water quality, follow regulatory initiatives, and continuously develop approaches to be cost effective about how we're running our business. The good story is we're positioned to comply both with the EPA-led regulations and the PFAS regulations on the compliance dates.

[00:25:09] We will continue our efforts to remove PFAS at the source, not only for the benefit of the environment, but for our rate payers and pursue PFAS manufacturers and polluters to help defray the costs to our rate payers.

[00:25:27] I'm going to transition next to some water supply challenges and opportunities. As I noted earlier, our sources are the Occoquan and the Potomac. On a typical day, about 60% of our water comes from the Potomac and about 40% from the Occoquan.

[00:25:46] As you know, the Potomac is a shared resource, both Fairfax water, WSSC water, and the Washington Aqueduct, as well as several smaller upstream utilities, rely heavily on it to meet the drinking water and fire protection needs of our service areas.

[00:26:04] Collectively, Fairfax Water, WSSC, and the Aqueduct are known as the co-op utilities. And through a series of regional agreements, we have funded upstream reservoirs to augment the flow of the Potomac during times of drought. And we also operate in a coordinated fashion during droughts with the technical support provided by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin or ICPRB. This unique cooperative arrangement and upstream supply development were the result of a severe drought in the Potomac in the 1960s, and it was recognized at that time that the region could

[00:26:41] not continue to grow and rely on the Potomac without additional water resources. The Army Corps of Engineers embarked on a study, identified 16 off-Potomac reservoirs that would be needed to ensure enough water for everybody, and their analysis was then reviewed further by professors at Johns Hopkins University who showed that if the co-op utilities operated as a system during drought, that we could reduce the number of upstream reservoirs that were required to just

[00:27:16] three, and those three were constructed in the early 80s and used for the very first time to augment the Potomac during the drought of 1999. So that first year of making releases was a bit challenging for the region.

[00:27:35] Our neighbors in Maryland placed water use restrictions unnecessarily on areas that were served by WSSC. We had a real communications challenge, people on one side of the street being able to water, people on the other side of the street not being able to water, even though the water was all coming from Potomac.

[00:27:53] So COG worked with the utilities and regional leaders to develop a drought awareness response plan for the utilities that are served or the residents and businesses that are served by the co-op utilities to recognize the significant investments that have been made in that upstream storage for drought mitigation. Fast forward to this year at their upcoming meeting, I think tomorrow, we're expecting the chief administrative officers of COG to trigger the drought watch phase of the COG plan.

[00:28:28] Unfortunately, the recent rains didn't make much of a dent. Most of the Potomac Basin is in severe drought status. And while there's sufficient flow in the Potomac to meet everybody's needs and meet the environmental flow by, there is a much higher chance this year of needing to make releases from those upstream reservoirs to get water to our customers.

[00:28:51] I also wanted to mention, because history serves as a reminder of what not to do, Fairfax Water worked with the General Assembly a couple of years ago to make sure there was recognition in drought regulations in the state that our customers had made these significant investments in upstream Potomac reservoirs and that we should not be painted with the same brush as the rest of the state during droughts.

[00:29:20] I just wanted to point out that we were successful in that effort. However, if the governor makes an emergency drought declaration and doesn't have a carve out for the co-op utilities and our customers, that would potentially supersede the efforts that we put forth a few years ago.

[00:29:40] So we continue to make sure that our friends at DEQ are educated and they can get the word up to the elected officials. Hopefully we won't be in a position where our customers are not able to use the resources they've already paid for this summer.

[00:30:02] So Fairfax Water, along with our co-op partners, conducts water supply availability and demand forecasts every five years with technical support from ICPRB. And these studies look out 25 years using COG population and employment forecasts and ICPRB's efforts at predicting water supply.

[00:30:23] And over the last few studies, we have been increasingly focused on the impacts of climate change and upstream consumptive use on our water supplies. Less frequent, more intense rainfalls and extended droughts must be factored into our planning, as does a loss of water from industrial processes and evaporative cooling upstream.

[00:30:48] So while our traditional focus has been on drought, in recent years we've also been increasingly focused on identifying alternatives to provide water supply resiliency in the loss of the Potomac from a contamination event. There are small-scale contamination events that happen practically weekly.

[00:31:08] They never rise to the level of you all needing to know about them. But there have also been a couple of really big ones in the past. One that comes to mind is the 1993 Colonial Pipeline break, which caused Fairfax Water to shut its Potomac intake for two weeks.

[00:31:27] Luckily, the event occurred in March when demands were low. It also occurred 30-plus years ago with a lot fewer people needing water from Fairfax Water. So while we made it through that event, we would not be able to be similarly situated if it happened today.

[00:31:44] And then, of course, more recently, the Potomac Interceptor collapsed, which, again, fortunately happened just downstream of the Washington Aqueduct's main intake but upstream of their backup intake that they used during droughts.

[00:31:59] So these issues are real. It's kind of a matter of when, not if. So we need to continue to plan for them. So these co-op studies that I've mentioned that we do every five years were a key factor in Fairfax Water pursuing the acquisition of the Vulcan Quarry many years ago and developing that quarry into a future water supply. We're very fortunate that the quarry is located in between the Occoquan Reservoir and our Griffith Treatment Plant. And this innovative

[00:32:36] conversion will provide new storage to us in 2035. And then again, in 2085, additional storage will be brought online. In 2085, the capacity of that storage is expected to be twice that of the Occoquan Reservoir today. But even with this additional storage, Griffith will continue to remain highly dependent on effluent flows from UOSA being returned to the Occoquan. All of our water supply planning to date and the projections we've done going forward assume 100% of the UOS

[00:33:11] effluent is coming back to the Occoquan and being recycled for drinking water. I just want to orient you a little bit to the regional system and some of the supply alternatives that we've been looking at. This map just shows you kind of the general locations of the co-op utility treatment plants and water resources. You can see in the green shaded area the Occoquan watershed and the location of the UOSA facility. And as I mentioned earlier, we've been identifying and evaluating potential supply sources with the objective of providing resiliency for a contamination event.

[00:33:47] Some of the alternatives that have been reviewed include new quarry storage beyond the Edgman Reservoir, as well as reusing wastewater effluent from other wastewater facilities. The region's reliance on the Potomac is significant, and the backup solutions that we're looking at all come with significant price tags in excess of a billion dollars.

[00:34:18] So working with our partners, we successfully obtained authorization under the 2022 Water Resources Development Act and secured federal funds to advance the development of some of these alternatives as a backup supply for the Potomac.

[00:34:35] But unfortunately, earlier this year, the administration set forth new guidance, which has now severely limited the scope of these efforts to alternatives that will not meet our objective of providing a two-week backup for the Potomac.

[00:34:53] So recognizing the importance of this regional resiliency effort, we are moving forward with our co-op partners at our own cost to further develop these alternatives. Slightly different version of what I showed you earlier, it's more of a schematic view of how different alternatives would tie into the regional system, and the alternative that we're focused on really right now is developing off Potomac storage through another quarry solution

[00:35:26] in Maryland. Even though Edgemen will enhance Fairfax Water's Potomac resilience, it does not eliminate our need for a backup supply, so we'll continue to work with WSSC and Washington Aqueduct. And then I want to mention beyond these quarry alternatives, we have started engaging with county staff, and we're very much appreciative of Mr. Hill and Mr. Harrington, to explore the options for using Nomen coal effluent as another source to provide additional resiliency to our drinking water system.

[00:36:05] So early days on that, but it's worth looking into. I'm going to turn now from the Potomac to the Occoquan for a little bit. As you all know, the Occoquan is a critical water source for the region, and it does rely heavily upon treated effluent from the Upper Occoquan Service Authority.

[00:36:30] The Occoquan is an indirect, what's called an indirect potable reuse system, the first of its kind in the country. And as I mentioned earlier, our existing and planned drinking water infrastructure are predicated on those UOSA return flows coming back to the Occoquan.

[00:36:50] What you may not realize is that during periods of low flows, could just be low flows and not necessarily a drought. Last fall, late last summer, and all through really December, we had very low flows. But UOSA can comprise up to 90% of the water coming into the Occoquan Reservoir during those events.

[00:37:13] And for drinking water, our infrastructure capacities are limited by permit to the water supply that's available during the drought of record. So they want us to plan for worst case scenario to make sure we've always got enough water. So what that means is a reduction in flows from UOSA would effectively reduce the permitted capacity of the drinking water system and our existing infrastructure and strand the investments that have already been made by our rate payers and our wholesale partners.

[00:37:48] So this indirect potable reuse system has been in place for almost 50 years. This region and the Commonwealth were very brave and trendsetters at that time to come forward with this solution to protect the Occoquan as a water supply. But since that time, there has been interest on several occasions to divert some of that UOSA effluent away from the reservoir for other purposes.

[00:38:24] Notably, in the late 70s, soon after the adoption of the Occoquan policy and the creation of UOSA, this Board of Supervisors took a position that any sale of UOSA effluent should only be for non-consumptive purposes and return to the Occoquan in the same quality or better than it otherwise would have been, recognizing the importance of these flows to the drinking water system. Efforts to divert UOSA effluent are likely to continue to some extent, well, perhaps largely

[00:38:59] because of the misalignment of the UOSA member jurisdictions with those that are served by Fairfax Water. Two of the jurisdictions that comprise 50% of the votes on the UOSA board do not get their supply from Fairfax Water either directly or through wholesale customers.

[00:39:17] They don't rely on the Aquaclon for their supply, and they aren't impacted by industrial wastewater that contains contaminants like sodium and PFAS that cannot be removed by the UOSA treatment process. So last fall, we embarked on another legislative initiative to place limits on potential diversions of the UOSA effluent to protect the water supply.

[00:39:45] UOSA offered to suspend its activities related to diversion for one year, and as a result, the patron continued the bill to the 2027 session, and I want to thank this board for your support for that initiative last session. But I do want to say we continue to pursue all options to protect the Occoquan inflows from UOSA. One of the ideas that we'd like to explore is resolutions from all of the jurisdictions that we serve, directly or indirectly, that echo

[00:40:24] the position that the Board of Supervisors here took in 1978. That's just one angle that we're working, many more, and I'm sure you'll be hearing more about it in the coming weeks and months. One of our board members, I think, has accurately described the diversion of UOSA effluent as an existential threat to the water supply, and I could not agree with him more. Regional water supply plan. So this is a regulatory requirement of the Commonwealth. In the past, these efforts

[00:41:03] have been spearheaded by NVRC, but they rely heavily because of our footprint in the region on the work that we do with our partner co-op utilities and ICPRB. And as you may know, the next iteration of the plan is underway. We expect there to be an increased focus on consumptive use and consumptive reuse, climate change, and this issue of diverting UOSA flows has to be addressed because we can't develop a robust water supply plan if we haven't solved

[00:41:40] that potential issue. You may recall that these plans, the state has now set up and defined the region, so we are together with pretty much the same region that we've had in the past.

[00:41:58] the NBRC member jurisdictions. But the plan does have to be approved by resolution by every member body before submission to the state. So some of these issues are going to potentially come to a head during that process. So I'm going to touch real briefly on water quality. I've been talking a lot about quantity and resiliency from a quantity standpoint. But I did want to mention, you know, climate change is going to continue to have an impact on water quality as well.

[00:42:32] Intense precipitation events send more sediment and more pollution to receiving streams and then on to us. Extended periods of high temperature and low precipitation drive the growth of algae to extremes. And I'll reference the event of two summers ago. Supervisor Bierman knows this one well. We had an unprecedented algal bloom in the Potomac, and this was an issue that impacted not only Fairfax Water, but all of the other utilities, including the Washington Aqueduct, which

[00:43:02] had to issue a boil water notice for about a day, the day before 4th of July, because they were not confident, not 100% confident that they were going to be able to treat to drinking water standards. It turned out they were fine. But during this period, we had to use more than twice the amount of chemicals to treat the water that we normally do. We produced an enormous amount of residuals. And you see that bottom picture, that green stuff is not

[00:43:37] grass clippings, it's algae that we removed from the water. It created tremendous odor issues for the community around our plant, created some new safety concerns for our staff operating at the plant. So since that time, we've identified and implemented several mitigation issues and appreciate, again, county staff's support helping us work through this because one of the mitigation efforts is sending some of our process water to the county's wastewater plants that was not previously going there.

[00:44:14] But events like these are going to continue to happen more frequently in the future. And, you know, we're well positioned, but we're kind of also learning on the fly sometimes. Increased precipitation events in the winter.

[00:44:33] You know, we've heard this less frequent, more intense precipitation in general with climate change. When it happens in the winter, more snow, more ice, more salt on the roads to keep them safe. That ends up in the drinking water supply, which we cannot remove.

[00:44:50] And we've been seeing, you know, an increasing clear and distinct increasing trend of sodium in our water resources, particularly in the Occoquan. We cannot remove sodium without using a process like reverse osmosis, which is extremely capital intensive.

[00:45:05] It's extremely energy intensive. It produces a very concentrated waste stream that is challenging to deal with, not only from an engineering standpoint, but from a regulatory standpoint. So, you know, we continue to work with the region, I know, as county staff does too, on all efforts to try to reduce sodium that ends up in the reservoir through, not only through road salt applications, but through industrial resources as well.

[00:45:41] So, just kind of looking ahead, as the region continues to try to diversify the economy and attract more industry, these source water quantity and quality issues will continue to be in the forefront, at least for Fairfax Water, and making sure we're meeting our mission.

[00:45:58] EPA recently identified more PFAS compounds, microplastics, and pharmaceuticals on its draft contaminant candidate list, signaling future monitoring requirements and potentially future regulatory action in drinking water.

[00:46:13] So making sure that we're understanding industrial water supply needs for our infrastructure planning early on in the economic development process is important, but also being able to better characterize the waste streams from these industries, whether it's being discharged directly to a receiving stream or it's going to UOSA in particular is important so that we know what we're dealing with on the drinking water side and hopefully can find mechanisms to remove some of those pollutants we cannot remove.

[00:46:44] at the source so that our rate payers aren't bearing that burden. You know, Fairfax County has long been a leader in land use policies and regulations that protect source waters, and we look forward to continuing our efforts with county staff and staff in other watershed jurisdictions to advocate and implement requirements that protect our water resources.

[00:47:08] One thing I did want to mention is, you know, what we're seeing more of now is either by-right development or change in use that doesn't require going through a zoning process where some of these issues related to source water planning or contaminant removal in waste streams may be an issue. So, that's an opportunity area as we move forward in time. So, just in some, you know, water supply resiliency is essential to public health and the economy of the community, and a loss of the Potomac would have significant economic impacts

[00:47:46] on the region. We'll continue to work with our regional partners to develop a backup supply for Potomac. Don't be surprised if you see us seeking federal funds to implement it because it is pretty pricey. And we'll certainly be back in front of this body as we move forward with that as well. But beyond our regional efforts, we're going to continue to work on protecting the Occoquan, making sure those U.S. return flows continue, and working with the county on new potential resources. I did want to quickly mention two things I haven't already covered that are on

[00:48:24] the horizon that may exacerbate our water supply resiliency issues. One is potential changes to the longstanding environmental flow by in the Potomac. Raising the flow by would mean a reduction in the available upstream supplies our rate payers have already funded to withstand droughts. And the other is potential changes to Virginia's regulatory scheme regarding water withdrawals. We're expecting DEQ to continue their efforts to eliminate grandfathered withdrawals like ours. And this could potentially result in the need to construct costly modifications to our

[00:48:59] intake structures and or develop additional resources to offset potential permit requirements. So those are things we are monitoring and participating in actively. I want to cover very quickly a couple of D.C. water initiatives that would impact Fairfax Water. And again, I want to thank Mr. Hill and Mr. Harrington for their partnership and their recognition of how serious these issues are for Fairfax Water and the residents of Fairfax County. They've been

[00:49:32] excellent partners sharing information and making sure that our concerns are understood and communicated back. So we purchased a very small amount of water from the Washington Aqueduct.

[00:49:49] Only about 10 million gallons a day is like 6% of our supply. But it's a third resource for us on the Potomac, which provides a lot of insurance. The Corps is operated, owned and operated by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Aqueduct is owned by the Corps of Engineers and has three wholesale customers, Fairfax Water, Arlington County, and D.C. Water. And there are no federal funds that support the Washington Aqueduct. It is completely supported by funding from the three wholesale customers. And that's been the case for decades. Earlier this year, the D.C. Water Board passed

[00:50:27] a resolution authorizing its CEO to enter negotiations to acquire the Washington Aqueduct, which isn't for sale. And I wanted to mention that this effort was initiated without prior consultation with or notification to the other wholesale customers. And we in Arlington have a lot of shared concerns about potential ownership of the aqueduct assets by DC Water, including governance, the potential for cost shifting to Virginia rate payers, the capacity to make the

[00:51:03] necessary infrastructure investments, and some of the regional water supply planning and coordination issues. The aqueduct serves a very unique role in the regional agreements. The aqueduct is actually the entity that in the unlikely event there is not enough water in the Potomac for everybody's needs, they're the ones saying who gets how much. How much does Fairfax Water get? How much does WSSC get? How much does the aqueduct get? And so there are a lot of questions, not a lot of information about what DC Water is thinking. I will say we're aligned only to the extent that

[00:51:40] we all think it's a bad idea that the Washington Aqueduct would ever be owned by a private water utility. That would not be good for any of our ratepayers. But we have serious concerns about potential ownership by D.C. water. They always have them. Yeah. The other initiative I wanted to mention of D.C. water is their Pure Water D.C. initiative. I talked about the co-ops initiatives to provide a backup supply to the Potomac.

[00:52:12] D.C. admittedly has a unique situation, as does Arlington, in that they're 100% reliant on the Potomac. So for that reason, they've embarked on this pure water initiative that would recycle Blue Plains effluent. The concern we have with this is that it appears that the recycling of the Blue Plains effluent only works if it's going up to the Washington Aqueduct and would mean that the additional infrastructure to make that happen has to be constructed on the side of the Washington aqueduct. So who's supposed to be paying for that? The other aspect of this is that right now the Virginia regulatory framework does

[00:52:51] not allow direct potable reuse. And the way this is conceptually described, it may fall into that category. So, you know, there's a concern there as well. And probably the biggest is that the way they've conceived this project, the only needs that are addressed are those of D.C. water. And at a huge price tag, multiples of a solution that we're looking at with WSSC and the aqueduct that would serve all of our respective needs on the Potomac. So we've shared these concerns with D.C. water leadership. We continue to meet with them and stay abreast of what they're doing.

[00:53:30] but one concern is they've described this project as a regional solution. It is not a regional solution. And when we're all probably vying for federal funds in the future, we have to make sure that that distinction is clearly made.

[00:53:50] So just wrapping up real quick, a few key takeaways. I know I've covered a lot today. You know, we're proactively addressing PFAS and LEAD. We're working on the challenges that we see with respect to water supply resiliency, continuing to work with our regional partners, and making sure that we're speaking up about what some of the D.C. water initiatives are and are not from our perspective.

[00:54:26] We just wanted to wrap up by saying, you know, we know how important the work that we do is to the health and economy of Fairfax County and the Northern Virginia region. We're going to continue to be proactive about water supply planning, about addressing potential regulations, continue to work on holding PFAS manufacturers and polluters responsible so that our rate payers are not paying the entire burden.

[00:54:51] We take seriously the role we pay and play in public health, and we'll continue to be a trusted service provider through transparency and responsible stewardship of all of our resources. So thank you very much for your time today. I'm happy to answer any questions Jeff did you get enough I did that was a lot I do want to I want to thank you Jamie for that thorough presentation and and I Deliberately did not stop in each section to go to questions because I want to make sure the whole presentation could be had the public could see

[00:55:25] As well as the board some of the challenges that you're facing and clearly the relationships that we have with our water authority appointees That we have regular communications with them, not just during this meeting, but throughout the year and with regularity.

[00:55:43] I do want to just highlight a few things real quickly and then go to questions. And the first of which is use the term partnership many times. And I think what we just saw in this presentation is the importance of a strong partnership between the Board of Supervisors and Fairfax Water.

[00:56:00] And I know how strong that's been for generations and look forward to having that continue in this county as we tackle the challenges ahead. You kind of quickly read over something that I think jumped out to us. We presumed, and we know, but when you say that Fairfax Water is the only one of 25 largest utilities in the country without a Safe Drinking Water Act violation, we don't often think of it in those terms.

[00:56:26] Our residents and businesses probably inherently assume that's the case, but that is to be celebrated, and that is the ongoing work of you and your staff and the board, the support of the county. But that's a big deal when you think about the environment that we're living in today and all the threats that you've mentioned in your presentation to our water supply and to our water quality.

[00:56:50] Secondly, a big thing that jumped out to me, I think, and to all of us that's a major concern, which is the household water bills likely to more than double by 2050. And, you know, obviously there's a lot of reasons for that, but the federal changes and the federal rulemaking that is driving some of those cost escalations are going to be felt everywhere in the country.

[00:57:16] This is not just an inherent Fairfax water challenge. And because we're in so much better position than a lot of these other utilities, It does beg the question of, you know, what type of pressure is being put on our federal support structure nationwide to be able to mitigate some of these costs.

[00:57:34] I mean, we're one water provider in a large nation that is facing all of these new federal regulation challenges the same way. And so, you know, one of the questions that I have is what is being done nationally on that issue?

[00:57:50] Because if our water bills are likely to double in the next 24 years, I can imagine there's going to be variations of that across the country. But some parts of the country will far more than double because they're far less prepared to be able to adhere to and respond to these new federal standards.

[00:58:09] And so is there a nationwide effort to try to deal with that that you're aware of through your partner organizations or things that we should be doing at the local level to just continue to sound the alarms on that? So Fairfax Water Works with a number of national industry associations, American Water Works Association, and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies.

[00:58:33] And I think collectively, we are all about solid rulemaking, protecting public health, but doing it in a way that makes sense. So that's always an angle that we are working through those groups on. But I think you're seeing an increasing effort to secure more federal funding.

[00:58:56] The report cover that's shown on that slide is kind of a precursor to that. And when I read that report and saw how little money the federal government contributes to drinking water infrastructure relative to transportation was the next lowest at 22%.

[00:59:16] So huge gap there. The other thing that the industry is lobbying for is a comprehensive, low-income household water and wastewater program similar to the LIHEAP program for heating and electricity.

[00:59:37] There was a pilot version of this a couple of years ago on the tail end of COVID, and it worked exceptionally well. It was administered by the Commonwealth, administered by all of the states through the federal government, and it worked great. but I think something like that continues. There's a need for that. There's always going to be a portion of our customer base that struggles to pay those bills. And then, you know, another regulation that I'll mention or legislative initiative by industry relates kind of back to PFAS and it's related to the CERCLA Act. We have been seeking for several years a specific

[01:00:16] carve out from liability from CERCLA for those residuals that we have to dispose of that are going to have PFAS on them, right? So while EPA has assured us that they never intend to come after drinking water utilities as passive receivers for disposal of those materials, we'd prefer to see it in law. So we are working a number of angles, but I think continuing to push for more federal funding. And some of these low-income assistance programs are kind of the

[01:00:53] two key initiatives right now. Okay. Thank you for that. It's important for all of us to be doing our part on that front. And then I'll just say that your comprehensive strategy on PFAS and UOSA diversion and what we're dealing with at DC Water are strongly supported by this board. And I want to just make sure we say that publicly because these are our real issues we know the history we know the threats and whatever efforts we can do to help you be able to protect ourselves and all

[01:01:27] of those areas you can count on this board working with the the water board to do that and so with that I know there'll be a lot of questions we do have about 20 minutes so I just ask folks to be very brief with them but before I turn to folks for questions let me ask chair Phil Allen if he is anything he would like to say.

[01:01:46] No, it's just I'm really glad and for what I would call all out to the word partnership that you've gotten. Certainly the Board of Supervisors in downzoning, the Occoquan was really forward-looking, and I'm really pleased that you've continued to support us on these other issues that affect the water quality and the water quantity.

[01:02:06] I would just add on one thing. In our partnership in the co-op that runs, essentially runs, meaning finances, the Washington Aqueduct, one of the requirements of any decision is that D.C. water be on the positive side of that. So while they might be the largest user, even if Arlington and Fairfax water are aligned on a matter, it does require D.C. water to do that. So that's always an obstacle for us in terms of the governance there. But thank you for having us here. And certainly any questions that we can answer, it will hedge up. If there's something even more technical, we'll get

[01:02:43] some more answers, and even more so, we'll get you help offline. Very good. Thank you, Phil. And we'll do this, just folks, be brief so that we get a chance to get any questions or requests for additional follow-up or information on the table. And I'm going to go right down in the order of the board members here, and certainly hope we have time for any additional.

[01:03:05] Okay, very good. Supervisor here. I'll be as quick as I can. You're going to be a big loss. Easy to see. So I'll start with that. keep it the drought emergency declaration and you may have already communicated with the governor jeff that might be something we can do as a board action it just to send a letter to make sure it's out there and it's a little more public so i leave that for your consideration um you know as supervisor gross be here she'd probably use the word water wars because she's using that but they they obviously continue and we support your your efforts there and you all have my commitment to

[01:03:44] continue on the Occoquan as she did my dad's in 78 Yosa. That's it for me. Yes, Supervisor Alcorn. All right, thank you. Excellent presentation. Really appreciate the comprehensiveness and everything that Fairfax Water and the board is doing on all these issues. Super helpful.

[01:04:04] Congratulations on, again, being the lowest rate provider in the region. And I can't miss the opportunity to point out that customers of Vienna Water are paying over $200 more a year than Fairfax Water customers. And thank you very much for your willingness to discuss, you know, with Vienna officials on that. So still a TBD down the road. But just a couple other quick things. First of all, your leadership is super important on a number of these issues and very

[01:04:40] much appreciated. On PFAS, when you came a couple of years ago, we were looking and talking about a $300 million expense for treatment. Thank you for getting past that. But also thank you for continuing to move forward with not just the monitoring and the research, but the removal of PFAS from there. So whatever the federal government ends up requiring, and my guess is they're probably going to change one way or another and then, you know, flip-flop.

[01:05:09] But the point is we need to get it out of our drinking water. And we're doing so, it looks like, in a very smart way. So thank you for that. And the stewardship of the Occoquan Reservoir, thank you for maintaining that. And I served a few years ago on the ICPRB, and I really value the regional cooperation and collaboration that you referenced.

[01:05:37] We have some challenges, clearly, and this gets to my one question. I know with UOSA, there's the primary challenge, I think, in terms of other consultative uses would be data centers, would be my guess.

[01:05:52] Is that correct? Or there may be others, and these would be data centers. I guess mostly in Prince William County. Is that correct? I think it could be data centers depending on their cooling technology, but there are other industries that use water consumptively that may be interested in that as a supply.

[01:06:19] Okay, that's helpful. My question is in terms of any potential problem with upstream Potomac river water users. I mean, I guess if the over 100 data centers already approved in Loudoun but not built, actually get built, what is that going to mean for our water supply?

[01:06:42] Yeah, so as I mentioned, you know, in the ICPRB studies, they are quantifying, projecting upstream consumptive use. They are looking at data centers. Data centers are not 100% transparent about water use, so it's a little bit of a, you know, They're making their best estimates.

[01:07:03] Their most recent study that was published late last year does include a pretty comprehensive look at the impacts of upstream consumptive use from data centers specifically. I do not remember the numbers off the top of my head, but they are being factored into what we have to do for our water supply planning as a result of that occurring.

[01:07:28] So it is being accounted for. Okay, great. Because I know some data centers use more water than others, and it's not always obvious. So perhaps this is also something we could perhaps look to the state to require more information about, you know, planned water usage, because this is obviously a real issue for us.

[01:07:50] And I know there were a number of bills in the last session trying to get at that. The only one I know of that was successful was a bill that will require us now to report on drinking water utilities to report on water usage specifically on data centers that have an air permit issued by DEQ but we also have to report on all the other categories of customers total usage as well so that starts in January it's not it's not forward looking it's it's

[01:08:26] what's already there okay well let's try again okay thank you and and I don't I don't doubt for a moment that efforts in Richmond will continue to happen every year on that subject for the foreseeable future. So we'll be working closely with you as we go through those.

[01:08:44] Supervisor Stork. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you all. Excellent presentation. I think very comprehensive. I think we all know that water is life, and I take that very seriously. And with two rivers and eight creeks and a whole bunch of streams, and even just as importantly, the infrastructure, Fairfax Water's headquarters and the storage, as well as Noma Coal plant, which will continue to be an important part of recycling and Chris and his team and all that they do.

[01:09:15] And we know, and as you've said really throughout, the affluent or frankly how we process that water out of a nomicol or OOSA or wherever is going to be a major source and already is a major source of what I drink on a daily basis.

[01:09:30] So I take it very seriously and absolutely appreciate the leadership, Jamie, you've had for many years, not only as the general manager for a number of years, but your decades of service to Fairfax Water and the board's decades of service makes a real difference and something that I'm very appreciative of and recognize that that's a core part of our development and our future, if you will, in this community and our county to continue our development.

[01:09:59] And I realize I contribute a little bit to the maybe a little bit higher cost because I still get my water bill in the mail. But I also wanted to point out, and the bill is a low one. Thank you very much. But I also want to point out that it's a great newsletter, and I think you do a great job of highlighting for everybody the critical issues.

[01:10:19] And so I take it seriously. I know our community takes it seriously. We have a number of issues as you really even identified in the presentation not only with with Bellevue and in the Really the strong progress that's been made to getting lead out of the water something that we've known for hundreds of years is bad for us And still we're struggling to get that done again I don't think that's a function of what Fairwise water is doing it's just a function of getting to it and identifying and I'm couldn't be happier by Beginning of next year at the latest, that'll all be identified, and most of it will be mitigated.

[01:10:56] So that makes a huge difference for our community, and for Bellevue in particular. It's a huge difference, and thank you very much. I know Toxamont is one of the issues that you're dealing with now, and just would ask that you all consider Toxamont in relation to what has been done in the past with Holland Hall and many other water systems that were absorbed into Fairfax water and to be treated fairly in that respect.

[01:11:20] PFAS, I know we all know that that's a huge challenge. And I thank you absolutely for your focus in looking at not only holding people accountable for who's admitting it, but also how do we address it with our system. I really had two questions related to that. One is, how are you commenting on the proposed rule changes that EPA has put out, which are due in July? Do you have any particular approach? I know they're changing at least what the Biden administration did. And you can argue it a couple of different ways, but the most important thing is how are you all looking at that? And the other part is, do you all suggest, or is your website

[01:11:56] have anything for users like me who are very health conscious and don't want PFAS in our water, but recognize that that's a part of it? And somebody who drinks huge amounts of Fairfax water every day, do you have any suggestions for us as part of this? How do we manage that?

[01:12:13] Okay, I'll take your second question first because it's a little easier. In terms of home use devices, there are, I think, two things to point out. One, if a customer wants, well, first of all, even though we do not meet the regulation, our number is just barely over, right?

[01:12:34] So it's not like some of the communities you've read about in other places in the country with significant contamination. we will have our processes online before the regulatory requirement. In-home pitcher filters, based on the information I have, do not remove PFAS to the levels of the drinking water regulation.

[01:12:59] So while somebody could find one that's been certified by NSF or ANSI, it's not necessarily going to do as much for you as our treatment process is going to do here. In terms of the new EPA proposals with respect to PFAS, there are two proposals out there.

[01:13:22] One is to remove, rescind regulations on four PFAS compounds that were part of the Biden era rule. We detect some of those compounds in our water, but not at levels that would have violated the regulation, so not really planning to comment on that. The second proposal they have is not to change the regulation for PFOA or PFOS, the other two compounds that we are concerned about,

[01:14:00] but to potentially provide a two-year extension for utilities. The catch on the two-year extension is that a utility has to certify they cannot possibly meet the regulation by the current deadline, and we can.

[01:14:18] So we don't, at this point in time, plan to comment on that regulation, that proposal either. But we are paying attention to new rules as they are being in the early stages of development, and we'll continue to comment where and when we think it's appropriate to protect our rate payers.

[01:14:39] We did provide significant comments on the PFAS rule before it was finalized, raising a number of issues, cost, time to comply, those sorts of things. So we'll continue to do that. Well, thank you very much.

[01:14:54] And I know that that's really just one piece of it, microplastics, pharmaceuticals. I mean, we know this is, I won't say the beginning because we've been dealing with it for a while, but we know more is coming. And, again, I greatly appreciate the importance of water because it is truly life.

[01:15:11] And I would also ask and thank you all for your willingness to look at a water edge trail and the security study you're doing and the conversations we've had about that. Appreciate your continued look at that. recognize that there's always going to be some security issues, but I also know that I think it's an opportunity to do both. And again, I appreciate all of your efforts in that regard.

[01:15:31] Thank you very much. Thank you for that last part, Dan, because it is an important thing that we continue to try to find a compromise on that works for everyone. So thank you for bringing that up. Supervisor Pouchik. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you so much, Jamie, and the whole board.

[01:15:50] Those of you who served longer than most of us have served. very much appreciate, I think, if we had a board and a manager like yours across the region, we wouldn't be facing some of these issues region-wide. We say that about CSB, but clearly water is one of those things that you only appreciate when there's a struggle to keep it.

[01:16:10] There are three areas that I really honed in on from your presentation that I have sort of a comment or question. I guess the first one would be, let's start with nomenclal reuse. Really want to celebrate that. I tried the water at the end, even though we're not allowed to sell it yet.

[01:16:25] It's very clean. Love it. Is the main barrier there legislative at this point or operational as well? I think we're in the early days just trying to characterize the effluent and how that would fit into our treatment scheme. There is a potential for a regulatory barrier, so we're keeping that front of mind that the reuse regulation in Virginia is expected to be up for updating here I think this year so we we are very much paying attention to that and we'll be making sure that we provide comments that would at least enable that as a as a resource excellent I would say

[01:17:03] for for that one and then my next one is on the the LIHEAP for federal funding I know I've been working in false rich city on connectivity um issues concerns for some of our residents but absolutely knowing that they had a system that worked um so i want to make sure that it's on our legislative agenda for both of these issues and others that it's not just on fairfax water but that we as a county on our board for our state and federal legislation work with you to do that i'm sure jennifer vanney's on it if she's not here today um so definitely want to

[01:17:38] make sure water comes up more prominently and an environment committee will continue to do that as well. I think my only other question was a very simple one on the support for the proposed resolution. Is there a next step on that? Is that something that we need to lead on that you're working on and VRC should work on? What is the next step on the resolutions? So we have drafted a resolution that follows along the lines of the board's 1978 actions and shared it with staff. It would be great if this board took the leadership on that and was the first

[01:18:16] to pass it. I have spoken with my counterpart at Prince William Water. I think they would similarly put a resolution forward with Prince William County Board of Supervisors. And then our goal is to reach out to every jurisdiction that we serve and ask that they do the same.

[01:18:37] Absolutely. Well, I'm happy to sign on. I'm sure the chairman and staff are working on that. Yeah, and it's not just nice that we would do it. We have to be the first one to do it. Absolutely. And we also have to have folks align with it. In terms of how it intersects with the NBRC process, it's useful to have that resolution approved by as many people in the region as possible in advance of the NBRC process.

[01:19:02] So from a timing standpoint, we're going to be tracking it along with that. Well, that seems like the easiest step we can take to support that, so that's great to hear. Actually, I had one follow-up question hearing. I've been wondering, I don't know if you have data or if we can get more in Providence there are some of the old, smaller data centers that have been around from the heyday of the internet expanding that are looking to maybe modernize. And I don't know if there's data around the impact of modernizing and perhaps making more efficient some of the older data centers, as well as other industries. I know there are other industries. So I don't know if that's

[01:19:42] something you all have access to, or we need to get more information on independently. So we don't necessarily have access to it. One of our challenges is many of the data centers, you wouldn't know it's a data center by the name on the account. Right. And so right now, our only mechanism to know if it's a data center is to use that DEQ database that for data centers that have the air permit and they may or may not have one of those one of those air permits.

[01:20:11] But if you're able to get a list, we can certainly, you know, take a look at usage on an anonymous sort of... Yeah, I just want to make sure we get more data before we jump to any conclusions to make sure what is most effective and where are the biggest points.

[01:20:27] And what are people doing in the region? I do know that Loudoun County looked at tax relief for data centers coming in, retrofitting the old data centers to better align with today's environmental standards. And so, you know, I know that's a concept that they've been toying with and thinking about, but honestly, the revenue that they bring in off of those, if they can give some of that back to them to incentivize the owners of these older data centers to retrofit them, that helps all of us in the region.

[01:20:56] And so we're going to, I know I've had conversations with Loudoun County on that and we'll continue to do that. Thank you. Supervisor Lusk, and let's be cognizant of time, folks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, I wanted to just note and appreciate the point that you made about the source water PFAS and how important it is for us to get reductions with it.

[01:21:18] I just wanted to articulate here, you know, please keep us up to date in terms of how we can support making sure that happens for those sources that are causing problems in our water system, because I think this is kind of a vital point.

[01:21:35] And then second on the PFAS residuals, I really learned something here today about that. And just if you could help me a little bit, what are the costs for us for that disposal of those kind of remnants?

[01:21:51] And then second, are there any innovative technologies out there? Because it seems like this is a problem that's not just for us, it's for others. Are there any innovative opportunities to help address this problem?

[01:22:08] So there are innovations being made in treatment technologies, and there are some that actually destroy PFAS compounds, but they only work at much smaller scales than the level that we produce at.

[01:22:25] Hopefully that will change over time, but that's also a reason why, you know, we feel like treating PFAS at the source makes a lot more sense for a lot of reasons. The environment, our rate payers, the technologies to actually destroy it instead of continuing to recirculate it around the globe exist in those smaller volumes.

[01:22:44] I don't have cost estimates for you for disposal of PFAS-laden residuals, but it is a huge concern for the industry. You know, when you use carbon to remove PFAS, you know, ultimately you use all its absorptive capacity.

[01:23:06] You have to replace it. So it's a continuous thing, and we may have to, you know, change it out every six months or every 12 months, and then we've got to find a landfill that's willing to take it, and they're going to charge a higher rate because it's got PFAS. You know, you get it. I do. But I don't have numbers off the top of my head.

[01:23:23] Sorry. That's okay. I appreciate those responses and just wish you well and continue to address this very vexing and difficult problem. Thank you. Other questions? Okay. Those at the end interested in making sure that we're efficient and end on time.

[01:23:42] But before we do wrap up, let me just make sure that there's none of our water board members that wanted to weigh in on anything or to ask any questions as well. Just showing how efficient you are. I just want to say on behalf of our board, it is an honor and a privilege to serve the members of the Board of Supervisors, our communities, our districts, our at-large representation, as well as our business communities.

[01:24:10] It's a responsibility we take very seriously, and we feel like we're doing it right when we're not in the evening news, and folks can get up in the morning, turn on the water, and have a nice warm shower. But the last – Thank you. That is an applause line. I couldn't go without saying, you know, you heard a great presentation from probably one of the best general managers that Fairfax Water's ever been blessed to have.

[01:24:34] It's going to be a huge, huge void. You have a tough job ahead. But I assure you, we are working on some plans to see some new leadership, some new faces. And hopefully, Jamie will have a wonderful life in the next 60 days, after her next 60 days with Fairfax Water.

[01:24:55] Good. Yeah, that's right. And drink clean water. And can't thank you enough, Jamie. And, you know, it is an opportunity for us, too. I know a lot of your leadership team is here, too, to thank the entire team, because so many things that happen every day, like our residents being able to turn on the water and having it work, is just something we expect.

[01:25:16] We don't always look under the hood at all the things that have to take place to make that happen, including all the people that have to be doing exceptional work to make that happen. And I know how proud you are the entire team and I know Jamie's loss is a big one, but I know we have the infrastructure, the people and the physical infrastructure to continue to be successful. So with that, we're gonna wrap up right on time or close to on time and thank you for the continued partnership. Thank you, sir.

[01:25:44] Yep.

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