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Council grills DC Water on Washington Aqueduct ties after boil‑water advisories
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Summary
Council members pressed DC Water about boil‑water advisories in 2024 tied to Washington Aqueduct operations and algal blooms, and asked how the District will reduce reliance on a single federal source of treated water.
Several committee members focused questions on the Washington Aqueduct, the federal source that supplies water to the District. DC Water leaders said two of the 2024 advisories were tied to external issues at the Washington Aqueduct — an algal bloom that reduced intake capacity and an instance where a valve operation upstream reduced flow to the city — and described the District’s limited direct control over the Aqueduct’s infrastructure.
DC Water’s account: CEO David Gaddis and operations chief Jeff Thompson said Washington Aqueduct lacked some treatment capacity (algae‑dosing capability) until recently and that DC Water’s visibility into daily Aqueduct operations is limited because the Aqueduct is federally operated. They said the authority is pressing for closer operational coordination and exploring proposals to station a DC Water liaison at the Aqueduct site. Committee members stressed the city’s vulnerability from relying primarily on the Aqueduct for treated water and asked what steps have been taken regionally to find a second source or increase storage; DC Water staff said it participates in Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) discussions and technical work on options such as increased storage, aquifer storage and recovery, water reuse and desalination.
Why it matters: Boil‑water advisories and sudden intake disruptions present immediate public‑health risks. The hearing underscored how the District’s water supply chain crosses municipal and federal lines of responsibility and that improvements in regional coordination and Aqueduct capability are central to reducing the risk of future advisories.
Ending: Council members asked DC Water to provide more frequent updates on Washington Aqueduct coordination, to deliver proposals or memoranda of understanding that would increase operational transparency, and to continue working with COG on secondary source and storage options.
