The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved a plan in September 2012 that would allow for a new dam on a waterway in Greene County to create a new reservoir. So far the project has not moved forward for many reasons including questions about how it would be funded.
This week, Greene County announced that the Virginia Department of Health has awarded $12 million in grants to cover part of the costs of both a water line as well as an intake and pump station for the future White Run Reservoir.
“At the Board of Supervisor’s direction, we are positioned to deliver the long-awaited White Run Reservoir projects,” said Greene County Administrator Cathy Schafrik in an information release.
Public drinking water in Greene County currently comes from the Rapidan River and is processed at a treatment facility that is nearing the end of its life.
Earlier this year, Supervisors agreed to reduce the scope of the reservoir project in order to bring down costs. The size of the reservoir will be smaller than originally anticipated with a total storage capacity of 600 million gallons, down from 900 million gallons.
“Using the most recent data to project need, we have carefully re-scoped the entire project to deliver what we’ll need in the next 25 to 30 years, which reduces the estimates of the overall project by enough to offset the projected large inflationary increases,” Schafrik added.
The cost estimates dropped from $87 million to $65.5 million.
In September, Supervisors approved a plan to raise $43.5 million through the sale of municipal bonds to cover more of the cost. In October, Greene County learned that both Moody’s and Standard and Poor rated their bonds with the second-highest rating.
Schafrik thanked Senator Bryce Reeves and Delegate Nick Freitas for their help in lobbying the General Assembly for funding for the grant program. Additionally, the General Assembly allocated another $3 million to the project in fiscal year 2025 through a separate process.
On November 13, Greene Supervisors awarded a contract to English Construction to build the Raw Water Intake and Pump Station #1 and Commonwealth Excavating to install the Raw Water Main.
A groundbreaking for the project will take place on December 9.
Greene County has a web page for the project with all of the various documents.
Before you go: Paid subscribers cover the cost of conducting research for this article which was originally published in the December 3, 2025 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. You can either subscribe through Substack, make a monthly contribution through Patreon, or consider becoming a sponsor. The goal of Town Crier Productions is to increase awareness about what is happening at the local, regional, state, and federal government levels. Please share the work with others if you want people to know things.
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