Water Bills, Water Billboards, and Water Parks
Cheers RVA!
Today will be partly cloudy and hot, with a high of 93 and a low of 71. Stay hydrated.
the juice:
Changes are underway to improve the billing process after residents continue to receive skyrocketing water bills, including a man who got a $22k water bill, from WRIC.
A customer service portal is set to open in February in 2026, where residents can dispute, pay, and view their bills. Councilmember Sarah Abubaker noted:
It’s 2025. There has to be a simple algorithm that says, you know, if a bill is 200% more, this month than it was in the past 12 months, that should raise a flag in the system.
the pulp:
The city of Richmond has spent nearly $100k on billboards advertising safe drinking water since December of 2023, according to Samuel Parker at the RTD.
As the summer heat kicks in the city is offering a number of cooling locations, including the seven public swimming pools which are now open from noon - 8:00 pm, Monday through Friday and from noon - 7:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday, via WTVR.
the dive:
Shannon Heckt from the Mercury dives into a recent study on climate vulnerability at a local and regional scale in Virginia, with a focus on 10 localities including Richmond.
The Virginia Heat Watch analysis found that in many cities there could as much as a 15 degree difference across varies parts of town, with tree cover as the main factor in heat differences.
Heckt writes:
The study also found that the hot spot neighborhoods often have high populations of people with health vulnerabilities that make high heat a major risk factor. Exposure can lead to feedback loops of poor health and an inability to work.
“One of the things that’s really interesting in that regard is bus stops. In these kinds of areas, people tend to take more public transportation,” Lookingbill (a professor of geology, environment and sustainability at the University of Richmond) said. “We found that a lot of those bus stops are areas that are uncovered and don’t have a lot of tree cover or artificial bus stop cover.”
The demand for covered bus stops in the city was demonstrated when a substantial number of residents voted for proper bus stop shelters in the recent participatory budgeting process.
Read the full article here.
the vibe:
Have a cool day RVA!
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