Update 11:45 a.m. Jan. 9: This story has been updated with comments from Del. Chris Head.
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Members of the General Assembly traveled from all corners of the commonwealth to gavel into the 2025 session on Wednesday amid an ongoing water outage in Virginia’s capital city.
Some had traveled to Richmond on the weekend prior to prepare ahead of the session and to take part in pre-session caucus meetings and legislative events. Those plans were dashed by a city-wide water utility outage that, as of Wednesday evening, threatens to stretch into its third consecutive day.
Nearly all members of the General Assembly were present for the short time lawmakers convened at the Capitol before the body recessed until Monday, in hopes the crisis will be resolved by then.
Members from Southwest and Southside Virginia traveled hours to the Capitol before the start of session, with many making the journey on Saturday or Sunday, and had been in the city for nearly 48 hours without direct access to running water. General Assembly leaders and the clerks of each chamber announced Tuesday evening that lawmakers would gavel in briefly and gavel out until Monday due to the continuing health and safety issues presented by the lack of running water in the Capitol.
The delay cut three full work days into the short session, which is constitutionally required to close the session on Feb. 22, Sen. Ryan McDougal, R-Hanover County, said on the Senate floor Wednesday. He noted that the General Assembly will likely need to meet on the weekends to make up for lost time.
How did Southwest and Southside lawmakers handle the crisis?
A number of lawmakers from Southwest and Southside were, along with all lawmakers, unable to work in the Capitol or General Assembly Building. A number of the hotels and other lodging facilities where they were staying within Richmond city limits did not have access to running water. Here are some of their stories:
Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County
Austin had been staying at a condo he owns in downtown Richmond but said he planned to head back to Botetourt County on Wednesday afternoon.
“I just drove out to a colleague’s house in Henrico to shower,” he said in a phone interview. That same colleague brought him two 5-gallon water containers, which Austin and his wife had been refilling at their building’s pool to bring up to their condo to flush the toilet.
“It’s very unusual,” he said. “Not comfortable, not pleasant.”
The issue has caused concern for Austin, and other lawmakers, regarding the state of infrastructure management in Richmond and in other parts of the United States. Austin noted that the sprinkler fire suppression system in his building is likely out of water, too.
“I don’t understand what happened, I don’t understand how a situation of this magnitude could occur,” he said.
But he said he has confidence in the ability of Richmond’s new mayor, Danny Avula, to resolve the crisis. He said he hasn’t had much time to prepare for the 2025 session because he’s been focused on obtaining water and other necessities.
“It’ll be fine, we’ll get through it and we’ll get back to taking care of the people’s business,” he said.
Del. Ellen Campbell, R-Rockbridge County
Campbell drove to Richmond on Sunday, in an effort to get ahead of the winter storm in her district — the same storm that caused a power failure at Richmond’s water plant and caused the ongoing utility outage.
“It’s certainly been an interesting start to the session,” she said via email. “I had running water until Monday evening so on Tuesday, I made the decision to return home back to the district until the issue was resolved.”
She noted that she supports the decision to postpone the legislative session until the outage is worked out, and getting water to hospitals, nursing homes and elderly residents should be prioritized.
Sen. Chris Head, R-Botetourt County
Head was staying at a hotel near the Capitol when it lost access to running water Monday afternoon. He left Richmond in search of “fully functioning lodgings” when session recessed on Wednesday but, before then, he used a bucket provided by hotel staff to collect water from the swimming pool to flush the toilet in his room. He said that was an idea developed by hotel staff who, he said, went “above and beyond” to accommodate guests during the crisis.
It was “just one example of creative thinking,” he said in an email.
He was able to find another hotel to access showers Tuesday night before Wednesday’s short session.
“The other odd thing is walking around the area after hours. Usually the whole area is bustling with folks. It looked like covid again. Everything was/is closed. This is gonna be brutal to the downtown Richmond businesses, especially the restaurants,” he said.
“This has certainly been a disruption, and is exacerbated by the fact that this is already a short session year, but we will get everything done, no doubt,” he said.
Sen. Tammy Brankley Mulchi, R-Mecklenburg County
Mulchi was staying within the Richmond city limits and lost access to running water when the outage started.
“I have been buying water in surrounding counties to flush the toilet and today I drove out to a friend’s house in Chesterfield to shower,” she said via email. She said she planned to leave Richmond on Wednesday to return home but will continue her legislative work remotely from Mecklenburg.
“We are all pretty resilient. We adapt and keep going forward! Most of my colleagues have lived through much worse sometime in our lifetime,” she added. “I feel for people in real crisis like hospitals and the elderly and disabled.”
Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg
Peake had left for Richmond on Tuesday morning, and by the time he arrived in town, he learned about the water outage. He had rented an Airbnb near the Capitol which, he discovered, did not have any running water.
A family friend, he said, was able to find him and several other lawmakers a place to take a shower Wednesday morning before the short session began. He said a number of events and meetings with people in government relations had been canceled last minute because of the outage.
After the session recessed Wednesday afternoon, he hit the road back to Lynchburg.
“I feel sympathy for [Mayor Danny Avula], this is clearly the result of at least eight years if not more of neglect from Richmond and their mayor and their city council,” he said. “To have their water system in this bad of shape is inexcusable.”
“Water is about as important as it gets,” he said.
Del. Chris Obenshain, R-Montgomery County
Obenshain planned to head back to Montgomery County due to the water outage and will return to Richmond on Sunday. Before that, he was staying in downtown Richmond, where water has been intermittent.
“I didn’t have it yesterday, but I do have water today,” he said via email.
He has used the time to work on pre-session preparations, he said.
“There’s certainly plenty to do to keep me busy until Monday. I plan to spend the rest of this week and weekend looking at the bills that have been filed and trying to be ready to hit the ground running when we get back,” Obenshain said.
He noted that one of the biggest frustrations was not being able to access his office in the General Assembly Building but, he said, the clerk’s office has been working hard to keep lawmakers informed and providing them with what they need to do their jobs.
“Other than having to drive out to Henrico in the mornings to get my cup of coffee, it hasn’t been much more than an inconvenience. Having survived the two week boil notice in Montgomery County this fall, maybe I’m just more prepared for things like this,” he said.
A number of localities across Southwest Virginia were under a boil-water notice after weather related to Hurricane Helene damaged water facilities in the region.
Del. Eric Phillips, R-Henry County
Phillips had been staying at a hotel downtown a couple of blocks from the Capitol when the water outage occurred.
“Many folks have friends, family or colleagues in the area who do have water and so folks are loaning out their showers. Some folks who stay downtown have rented hotel rooms outside of downtown, so they have water,” he said via email.
Phillips said he planned to head back to Henry County and return to Richmond in time for Monday, when the session will restart.
“It’s been unpleasant, but most everyone has made the most of it and kept a smile on their face. I appreciate all the hard work being done out in the frigid overnight weather that the municipal employees, and probably contract crews and workers as well, have been doing here in the downtown Richmond area to get this problem fixed as quickly as possible,” he said.
Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke
Rasoul had been staying at a hotel a couple of blocks from the Capitol since Sunday. He said he lucked out because that building had running water throughout the outage. He planned to return to Roanoke until Sunday.
“Somehow, that hotel is on a different reservoir,” he said during a phone interview.
A number of delegates ended up moving to that hotel in search of running water, he said.
As chair of the House Education Committee, he said that the outage has been disruptive to the legislating process. He noted that the General Assembly lost preparation time as well as a committee meeting day due to the outage.
“Things are a little up in the air,” he said. Regardless, he said, he’s confident the General Assembly will be able to get back on track early next week.
“Both sides and both chambers have been pretty dedicated to adjusting to deadlines, making it work and coming together through this crisis to make sure we don’t miss a beat this session,” he said.
Sen. Bill Stanley, R-Franklin County
Stanley said he and his aides moved work to his hotel room in Henrico, which has so far been unaffected by the outage, rather than traveling back to his home district.
“We are taking advantage of this down time working on our bills, budget amendments and committee work,” he said via text message.
Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County
Suetterlein pointed out that Virginia’s General Assembly has been operating for 406 years, and most of that time was without plumbing.
“This has created some change of plans but the real challenges are for working Virginians in Richmond,” he said in an email.
On Monday, he attended a commission meeting and worked on legislation in the General Assembly Building.
On Tuesday, the water outage had caused the cancellation of a luncheon and meetings in Richmond so his office met and worked in Henrico County instead. He said that for the most part, his office has been able to meet and prepare legislation, just in different locations, which hasn’t proved to be too difficult.
“The real challenges are being faced by working Virginians that live in Richmond City. The Richmond apartment that I am staying [in] is without water service. Thankfully a Roanoke Valley YMCA membership is recognized everywhere — including Chesterfield County!” he said via email.
Del. Wendell Walker, R-Lynchburg
Walker headed back to Lynchburg after the General Assembly recessed on Wednesday.
He had driven up to Richmond on Sunday to prepare for the session, until news of the citywide water outage sent lawmakers back to their respective temporary hotels and homes.
The water at Walker’s hotel cut out Tuesday morning and returned that evening, but there was no access to hot water.
He said he was able to improvise — he boiled a pot of water that he used to brush his teeth, shave and wash his hair.
“I said, ‘Oh boy! This is like Boy Scout days again,’” he said, during a phone interview, with a laugh. “It’s an interesting experience we’ve had, but we all survived and we’ve got our stories to tell.”
He noted that the bills he plans to put forth during session are mostly in order and ready for Monday.
Del. Wren Williams, R-Patrick County
Williams said he planned to return to his district Wednesday due to the outage, and issued a stark rebuke against the city service.
“For nearly 48 hours, almost 250,000 Richmonders have not had access to clean, running water. This failure is unacceptable for any municipality,” he said via email.
He added that the failure by Richmond city officials to address the city’s aging infrastructure is an issue that should concern Virginians across the commonwealth.
