Facilitating communication between Flint's water utility and residents to ensure safe, clean, affordable water for all
Announcements
This is a new site. Please help us to make it as user-friendly as possible by sending suggestions to our email address: wsac@cityofflint.com.
About Us
Our Purpose
The Flint Water System Advisory Council (WSAC) was formed in 2021 after revisions to the Michigan Lead and Copper Rule required every water system serving at least 50,000 customers to establish a Community Water Advisory Council. The WSAC's mission is to help facilitate communication between Flint's water utility and residents about lead in water and other water issues. WSAC's volunteer members are nominated by the mayor and approved by City Council, but the WSAC operates independently, setting its own agenda and running its own meetings.
Our Mission
To serve as a bridge between Flint residents and water system administrators, ensuring transparent communication about water quality, infrastructure improvements, and public health concerns.
Our Commitment
We are dedicated to advocating for safe, clean, affordable water for all Flint residents and providing accurate, timely information about water system operations and improvements.
WSAC Members
Jaron Houston
Community Advocate
Gina Jenkins-Harrington (formerly Smith), MPH
Public Health Advisor, LSSBB
Dr. Nancy Love
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Michigan
Dr. Shawn McElmurry
Environmental Engineer, Wayne State University
Sherri Hartwell Miller, MSW
Community Organizer
Dr. Benjamin Pauli
Chair
Flint Resident, 7th Ward, Associate Professor of Social Science, Kettering University
Lawrence Reynolds, MD
Pediatrician, Public Health Advocate
Nayyirah Shariff
Community Organizer
Contact Us
Have questions or concerns about Flint's water system? We're here to help.
wsac@cityofflint.com
Upcoming Meetings
Tuesday, September 16, 5:30-7:30, Gloria Coles Flint Public Library, Friends of FPL Room
Public Participation
All WSAC meetings are open to the public. We encourage community members to attend and share their concerns or questions about Flint's water system. Participating is easy--simply show up and join the conversation! While we always have public comment as a formal agenda item, whenever possible we invite people to participate throughout our meetings. If you can't make it to a meeting in person, you can always email us at wsac@cityofflint.com with any issues you'd like to raise.
WSAC meetings are in-person, but we try to make meeting recordings available through the city's YouTube channel.
How many members can serve on the WSAC?
The WSAC is a 12-member appointed body that includes residents, community leaders, municipal water and other technical experts.
How long do WSAC members serve?
There is no specified time frame that a WSAC member must serve. However, we hope that WSAC members will consider serving at least one year for purposes of continuity.
How do I become a WSAC member?
If you are interested in serving on the WSAC, please submit your name and email to wsac@cityofflint.com. We will reach out to you with more information about the process for becoming a WSAC member. Please note that members must be officially nominated by the mayor and approved by City Council.
What kind of decisions and recommendations can the WSAC make?
The main role of the WSAC is to help facilitate communication between Flint's water utility and Flint residents around water issues. It seeks to collect and share timely, accurate information about water quality, water infrastructure projects, and water affordability. It also shares water-related concerns from the community with city administrators and helps to ensure that those concerns are addressed.
What has the WSAC accomplished?
Aside from its usual public meetings, the WSAC has organized special meetings featuring guests from state and federal agencies, like the EPA personnel overseeing the 2016 EPA Emergency Order on Drinking Water in Flint. The WSAC has also organized focused conversations around Flint's Annual Water Quality Report and other water-related issues. In April 2023, the WSAC authored a letter urging the City of Flint to update the Alert Flint system to differentiate between emergency and non-emergency messages, an update that was implemented shortly thereafter. In April 2024, the WSAC's advocacy helped prompt the city to make public an administrative consent order (ACO) related to water infrastructure upgrades that were being mandated by the Michigan Department of the Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. The WSAC has also advocated successfully on behalf of residents who have brought specific issues to the council--for example, by helping to prompt a city investigation (and ultimately, remediation) of stormwater issues near Miller Road that had resulted in numerous flooded homes.
How can Flint's annual water quality report be improved?
Every year, the City of Flint is required by federal law to send residents a report with water quality data from the previous calendar year. Below, you can find a link to an electronic version of the most recent report. The Water System Advisory Council has been working on recommendations to the city about how these reports can be improved. Please join the conversation by downloading the report through the link below (if you don't already have one!) and letting us know if you have thoughts about the questions underneath the image. You can email us at wsac@cityofflint.com--or come to one of our meetings!
Water quality reports are not always very accessible to the average person. Do you have ideas about how to make Flint's reports more understandable? For example, do you like seeing water sampling data organized in tables or is there a better way to present it visually? Are there sections of the report where more explanation is needed?
What other information would you like to see in the report?
The city is required by law to put certain kinds of information in the report. However, it has the option of going beyond the requirements. How can the report do a better job of answering the questions you have about water in Flint? For example, the Water System Advisory Council has recommended that the city include a breakdown of how water bill funds are being spent.
WSAC's initial recommendations for improving the report can be found in this presentation.
How should upgrades to Flint's water system be paid for?
Like many water systems around the country, Flint's water system has many pipes and other components that are old and in need of repair or replacement, and corrosion during the water crisis caused further damage. The water utility is proposing to prioritize two big projects: replacement of the Northwest Transmission Main, a large pipe servicing 600 residents on the Northwest side of the city, and upgrades to the Torrey St. Booster Station, which ensures water pressure for 14,000 residents. The projects are estimated to cost around $30 million. Take a look at the plan and the options below, and let us know what you think!
The utility's preferred option: applying for a Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) loan
DWSRF loans, which consist of a mixture of federal and state money, have been a popular way to pay for local infrastructure projects since the early 1990s. The loans are offered at low interest rates, and in some cases, cities can get part or all of a loan forgiven. Flint has an opportunity to apply for loans once per year. The utility was hoping to apply in 2025, but City Council did not approve doing so, citing cost concerns. The Michigan Department of the Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) says it may be willing to forgive the loan, but it has not made any formal promises, and it would like the utility to apply for the loan before exploring options further. If the loan is awarded and not forgiven, the project plan estimates that water bills in Flint will have to be raised by 11% to cover the cost of repayment.
Other options
1. Do nothing/make minor upgrades. The project plan points out that without full-scale upgrades the transmission main and booster station "will continue to deteriorate due to the age of the system and costs will continue to increase as time progresses for routine maintenance and spot repairs." Additionally, a water main break would be a public health risk affecting hundreds of residents.
2. Pay for the projects using bonds. The project plan estimates that any bonds issued for these projects will need to be paid back at a 4.5% interest rate, as opposed to the 2.2% interest rate offered through the SDWRF.
Call the Flint Department of Public Works water hotline at (810) 766-7202 or sewer hotline at (810) 766-7079. If you'd like us to help with follow-up, email us at wsac@cityofflint.com and let us know you called.
