The roughly 17,000 people who rely on the Bristol County Water Authority (BCWA) may see an increase of up to 6 percent in their water bills later this year, pending a vote by the authority’s Board of Directors at their public meeting later this month to finalize their Fiscal Year 2024 budget.

The proposed new rate, if approved by the board, will take effect when the new budget cycle begins on March 1, 2023, and would be reflected on bills received by customers during the late spring or early summer, according to BCWA Executive Director, Stephen Coutu.

The board’s public hearing on the rate increase and budget approval process will be held on Thursday, Jan. 26 from 5-7 p.m. at 450 Child St. in Warren.

Capital costs drive rate increase
Coutu, reached Monday, said that the primary factor necessitating a rate increase was the continuing infrastructural work that the BCWA is conducting to update its systems throughout the East Bay.

“The biggest driver is the capital plan,” he said, stating that their capital project plan amounts to 40 percent of the overall $17,392,644 budget.
No project looms larger in the scope of those capital projects than the Pawtucket Pipeline Project, which seeks to create a redundant water supply with the City of Pawtucket. That project remains in the early design stages, and Coutu estimated it would cost $48 million by the time it is finished, and is “still a couple of years away.”

East Providence recently agreed to cover half of the estimated $1.5 million cost for the design of the project, but Coutu said it was too early to tell whether or not East Providence would assist BCWA financially with the construction of the actual pipeline.

“We’re seeking out any federal funding that we can. We’re applying to the Rhode Island Infrastructure Bank,” Coutu said, adding that BCWA needs to be conservative in its budgeting for the project because no outside funding assistance is guaranteed.

The BCWA finished Phase 1 of that project last year — an emergency connection made from their site in Providence to East Providence that can be utilized in the event that the lone current connection (which runs through the East Bay Pipeline under Narragansett Bay) becomes compromised for any period of time.

In addition to the Pawtucket Pipeline, BCWA said in a press release that it looks to continue replacing outdated pipes throughout its coverage area in the coming year — an additional 6,700 feet-worth of work, the release stated.

Customers in Bristol near the intersection on Hope and Tupelo Streets will also be the beneficiaries of work being completed on a booster pumping station, which BCWA says will improve water pressure for about 1,000 people in the area by the summer of 2023.

Kickemuit Reservoir project updates
Coutu provided an update on the status of two projects occurring in Warren: the removal of the two dams that created the now-defunct Kickemuit Reservoir, and the demolition of the old Child Street water treatment plant that once sanitized water from the reservoir.

The Times-Gazette has covered the efforts of the BCWA to demolish the dams — which because of sea level rise have become insufficient at holding back storm surges during high tides, rendering the once-fresh waters of the reservoir to become brackish and unsuitable for traditional water treatment methods. Once demolished, the former reservoir will return to its natural state of a tidal wetlands.

Coutu said that the BCWA has all the permitting in place to remove the lower dam near Child Street, but is awaiting RIDEM permits for removal of the upper dam, which they applied for back in August of 2021.

“We’re hoping that process wraps up soon,” Coutu said, adding that he hopes the work can begin by the spring, as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers places restrictions on when such work can be done.

As for the water treatment plant, Coutu mentioned the public attention that talk of demolishing the building received when it was proposed in 2021 — including multiple letters from those in the community who expressed a desire to save the historic building, which was constructed in 1908.

“It did generate some local interest. We’ve accommodated several tours from Preserve RI, and they are looking at it and looking at potentially finding re-use options or partners for BCWA,” Coutu said. “From my perspective, if we could avoid the cost of demolition and could find a way to reuse it, it becomes a good business decision for us. It’s just a matter of whether there’s any real interest.”

Coutu estimated that the cost to demolish the treatment facility would be around $1 million, tackled in two phases. He said they have gone out to bid for the first phase, and that he hasn’t yet heard any concrete ideas from those in the preservation community about what the building could be repurposed into.