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To express the City Council's support for highly prioritizing appropriations for the construction of combined sewer system plan projects by July 1, 2035, to improve water quality in the James River in a financially sustainable manner.
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WHEREAS, the water quality of the James River is vital to the City's environmental and public health, recreation, tourism, and economy; and
WHEREAS, the City's combined sewer system, hereinafter referred to as the "CSS," built in the late 1800s, carries both storm water and sanitary sewer water to the City wastewater treatment plant from approximately 19 square miles of the city, a combined sewer system area comparable to that of Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, under dry weather conditions, the City's CSS adequately handles storm water and sanitary water, but during significant rain events, the combined sewer system overflows; and
WHEREAS, the City has spent $315,000,000.00 on CSS improvements over several decades to reduce combined sewer overflows, hereinafter referred to as "CSOs," by 3,100,000,000 gallons of overflow annually, but the remaining volume of annual CSOs is approximately 1,600,000,000 gallons, with 90 percent of this amount made up of storm water runoff; and
WHEREAS, the City's improvements to the CSS, which enhance the water quality of the James River, include the 2020 project to increase the capacity of the City's wastewater treatment plant for treating wet weather water volumes from 75,000,000 gallons to 140,000,000 gallons, allowing for storm water treatment of over 100,000,000 gallons per day during rain events; and
WHEREAS, $105,000,000.00 in improvements to the City's wastewater treatment plant's nutrient removal technology have improved water bacteria samples over the last ten years and met or exceeded water quality standards at least 90 percent of the time; and
WHEREAS, to address CSOs, the City and the Virginia State Water Control Board entered into ...
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