Virginia's first full day of legislative session delayed by water issues from winter storm

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia's state Capitol and General Assembly buildings are going to be closed Wednesday, effectively postponing lawmakers' first working day of the legislative session nearly two days after a winter storm shut down Richmond's water system.

Lawmakers plan to meet briefly to handle some procedural matters before going into recess until Monday.

''Due to ongoing water outages in the City of Richmond, the House of Delegates will convene tomorrow at 12:00 PM to officially gavel in and commence the 2025 legislative session,'' Speaker of the House of Delegates Don Scott said in a statement. ''Following the initial meeting, the House will recess and reconvene on Monday, January 13th to continue our work for the people of Virginia.''

The announcement comes after the buildings closed on Tuesday due to lack of water pressure. G. Paul Nardo, clerk for the House of Delegates, previously told lawmakers and staff in an email Tuesday morning to vacate the buildings. In his email, Nardo said that while the problem persisted, restrooms would be rendered unusable and the buildings' emergency sprinkler system would be ineffective.

On Tuesday evening, Nardo said the building would remain closed through Sunday. Officials with gather when the buildings reopen Jan. 13, just in time for Governor Glenn Youngkin's State of the Commonwealth address. Youngkin's speech was initially set for Wednesday but rescheduled in light of the closures.

''As you can see, we are taking every precaution — and the necessary time needed — to resolve the issues and restore water to residents, hospitals, businesses and to us here at the seat of government,'' Nardo said to lawmakers and staff.

The storm caused a power outage on Monday that made the city's water reservoir system malfunction. Richmond issued a boil-water advisory to its 200,000-plus residents and promised to get the system back in order as soon as possible.

Richmond Mayor Danny Avula, who began his tenure as mayor after his election in November, said the boil-water advisory would be lifted once pressure could be restored in the system and officials could twice test water samples.

City officials had said Tuesday around noon that water production was resuming in an important step toward restoring service for all customers. But by Tuesday evening, officials said the water pressure restoration process had been delayed because an electric panel at a water facility failed.

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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.