Helene Shows How Badly We Need to Hurricane-Proof Running Water

Helene “severely damaged the production and distribution system of the City of Asheville’s water system,” the city said in a statement last weekend. “Extensive repairs are required to treatment facilities, underground and aboveground water pipes, and to roads that have washed away which are preventing water personnel from accessing parts of the system. Although providing a precise timeline is impossible, it is important to note that restoring service to the full system could potentially take weeks.” Asheville’s former water director Mike Holcombe told NPR that two of the city’s three water treatment plants, as well as a backup, were disconnected, amounting to “a nightmare.”    

I lost water at my home in West Asheville on Sunday afternoon. As of this writing, I have not showered in 5 days, and am using our blender’s pitcher to fill the toilet tank with bathwater anytime I want to flush. Even locations with access to water are under a “boil water” advisory, which has been in place since Saturday.

Infrastructure damage, be it to water systems or power lines or roads, aren’t a surprise after a storm. But the combination of catastrophic weather events exacerbated by climate change, and a water system stressed by Asheville’s rapid population growth—a 13 percent increase from 2010 to 2020—has driven the system to a breaking point. (Ironically, Asheville’s reputation as a so-called “climate refuge” is at least partially responsible for its population increase, as new residents move in.) Adding to the mayhem, Asheville’s city government and state legislators have had power struggles  over stewardship of the water district, with Republican lawmakers blaming the city for allegedly mismanaging funds that should have gone towards repairs.