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Mayor: Florence investing $30 million toward long-term 'brown water' fixes; staff outline multi-year plan
Summary
Mayor and city manager reported progress on water quality after a recent 'brown water' crisis, described a multi-year master plan for water and sewer infrastructure, and said the city is allocating significant resources (mayor cited $30 million) while acknowledging repairs will take time.
The mayor and city manager used their reports to update residents on water quality and infrastructure work following a high-profile brown‑water incident. The mayor said the council and staff have pursued multi-year master planning and federal advocacy and stated the city is investing in long-term fixes.
"We are putting $30 million into this brown water," the mayor said, stressing that the problem will not be solved overnight but that the city has added monitoring technology and experts to better detect and respond to brown-water events. City Manager Scotty Davis discussed operational responses during a recent winter storm: crews addressed five fires, located a broken 8‑inch main using a drone and identified about "700 users with continuous water flow" that staff investigated.
Council members and committee chairs highlighted approval of a 10-year master plan for surface and groundwater treatment, distribution and storm/sewer work adopted earlier; staff said the master plan identifies short- and long-term strategic solutions and that implementing the plan is now underway.
The mayor and several council members emphasized grant-seeking work in Washington and ongoing capital investment to restore system reliability while noting that residents may still experience intermittent brown-water events as repairs proceed.
Council and staff said further work, funding and staged implementation will follow master-plan priorities and grant outcomes.
