Richmond’s water crisis is trickling into the lieutenant governor’s race.

Former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney says he wishes the city’s prior administration had fixed the city’s water plant issues that, among other things, led to the Jan. 6 breakdown that left much of the city without drinking water for six days.

Referring to efforts to replace the water plant’s switchgear, a key piece of equipment in the breakdown, Stoney shifted some of the blame to his predecessor, Dwight Jones , who served as Richmond’s mayor from 2009 to 2016, before Stoney’s eight-year tenure.

Then-Mayor Levar Stoney delivers his farewell address at City Hall in Richmond on Dec. 20. Stoney placed some of the blame for the water crisis on his predecessor as mayor, Dwight Jones.

“This came out of the administration before me,” Stoney said Saturday during a campaign stop in Alexandria. “Do we wish that the prior administration would have gotten it done so we didn’t have to deal with it? Obviously, we wish that.”

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“But we were the ones who finally got it done,” he added. “It’s a long process to get to completion on a project like that, but we did that.”

Stoney was likely referring to the completion of the procurement process — and not the switchgear replacement — as that part had still not been replaced by the time he left office in December.

Jones, Stoney’s predecessor as mayor, announced this week he is endorsing one of Stoney’s rivals for the Democratic lieutenant governor nomination: Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach.

Jones said in an interview Tuesday that it’s unfortunate that Stoney is pointing the finger at him.

Dwight Jones, former Richmond mayor and state delegate, spoke with Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Feb. 1 after Henry Marsh’s funeral. Jones said of Levar Stoney: “It’s unfortunate that someone would blame a predecessor.”

“The city is extremely old and (it is) difficult, in eight years, to fix systemic problems,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that someone would blame a predecessor because you get what you get, and you deal with what you have to deal with.”

Jones said Rouse is a man of integrity and the best person for the job of lieutenant governor.

Stoney and Rouse are among six Democrats seeking the party’s nomination for lieutenant governor in a June 17 primary. Their other opponents are Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield; Prince William County School Board Chair Babur Lateef; former federal prosecutor Victor Salgado; and labor leader Alex Bastani. The Democratic nominee will face Republican John Reid in November.

At a campaign event in Richmond on Monday, Rouse took a swipe at Stoney, saying that during his own service on the Virginia Beach City Council, he focused on ensuring residents had clean drinking water.

A wave of murmurs swept through the audience, to which Rouse responded, “Yeah, I said it.”

Sen. Aaron Rouse, D-Virginia Beach, a Democratic lieutenant governor candidate, attends a campaign event with Black faith leaders in Richmond, Va., on Monday. Rouse is one of six Democratic vying for their party’s nomination in the June 17 primary.

Rouse said in a statement Tuesday: “My opponent let his city down and now is trying to blame Reverend Jones. Virginians know better and deserve better.”

“On Virginia Beach City Council, I fought to pass a $567 million bond referendum to protect our communities from flooding,” Rouse continued. “Virginia needs stewards of taxpayer dollars that prioritize our community’s basic needs, not ones who are distracted chasing shiny objects for a quick press hit.”

Stoney’s campaign manager Zach Marcus said Tuesday that Rouse doesn’t want to admit that under Stoney, Richmond invested more than $400 million into water treatment plant maintenance, "a century-old system neglected for decades before Levar took office."

“But no city can shoulder multi-billion dollar infrastructure upgrades alone. It takes real partnership with the state and federal government,” Marcus said.

“If Aaron Rouse had ever served as an executive he might understand that. But he hasn’t. He’s never had to balance a city budget, and never had to make hard calls to protect public health. If he actually cared about Richmond residents he would have helped us pass critical funding through the state legislature, but he was too busy running for his 4th office in 7 years to do that.”

At the campaign event in Alexandria on Saturday, Stoney responded to questions about the Jan. 6 water plant breakdown that occurred just after his term had ended and left much of the city without drinking water for six days. Asked by the Richmond Times-Dispatch whether it was his first time publicly addressing the water crisis, Stoney said no.

“I get the question, and I answer the question,” he said. “I’ve been to Greene County, and a reporter asked me a question about the treatment plant. And I give them the answers which I know.”

But he said his ability to answer questions is hampered by his limited information.

“I wasn’t there on January 6,” Stoney said. “I wasn’t there for the fluoride mishap. I wasn’t there for the recent boil water advisory.”

Stoney has declined multiple interview requests from Richmond reporters regarding the water crisis, citing his busy campaign schedule.

EPA report, deferred maintenance

Stoney was also asked whether he wished he’d handled water infrastructure differently during his eight years as Richmond mayor. He said that neither the mayor nor the chief administrative officer can fix problems they don’t know about.

“My wish would be for those who are working at the plant (to) send problems up the chain,” he said. “When the (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) visits a facility and the director of utilities doesn’t even know, that’s a problem.”

Stoney was referencing a 2022 EPA report that identified serious infrastructural and protocol deficiencies at the water treatment plant. Former Department of Public Utilities Director April Bingham — whom Stoney appointed — in March told WTVR that she had not been informed of the EPA inspection until two years after it happened.

Bingham learned of it when the Virginia Department of Health reached out to follow up on the report in October 2024, she said.

Stoney then addressed The Times-Dispatch’s previous reporting that city officials had deferred maintenance on the plant’s switchgear — the part that failed to transfer the plant to its secondary power feed during a blackout on the morning of Jan. 6, leading to the water crisis.

Records show that officials put out bids for the switchgear’s replacement as long ago as 2016, but then decided the project was too expensive. It wasn’t until 2022 that officials decided to go through with the job — but by that time, it was too late. The work was still underway when the component malfunctioned.

‘We never had a water outage’

Stoney described the water crisis as “avoidable” — the same word the Virginia Department of Health used in its report on the incident.

“Human error played a major role in this,” he said. “DPUweren’t preparing for the storm. I don’t care how small or large the storm will be, you have to prepare.”

“And it doesn’t take standard operating procedures to make something like that happen,” he said.

Both the state health department and engineering firm HNTB — which city officials retained to conduct an independent investigation into the cause of the water crisis — found that insufficient procedures and poor training were contributing factors. Both determined that DPU staff had not taken adequate measures to prepare for the snowstorm that led to the power outage.

“I was mayor for eight years,” Stoney said. “We never had a water outage. We took every storm, every inclement weather warning, seriously.”

Photos: Opening night at the Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront

The Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront joins the Richmond skyline on June 7, 2025, in Richmond, Va.

Rick Springfield strums his guitar with a bouquet of flowers during opening night at Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront on Saturday night. Springfield was the headliner for the venue’s inaugural show.

Rick Springfield performs during opening night of the Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront on June 7, 2025, in Richmond, Va.

Rick Springfield strums his gutter with a bouquet of flowers during opening night of the Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront on June 7, 2025, in Richmond, Va.

John Waite performs during Saturday’s show. He began his set with “Head First” while shredding his guitar for most of his set.

John Cafferty performs during Saturday’s show at Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront.

Wang Chung frontman Jack Hues high-kicks while performing Saturday night.

Nick Feldmen and Jack Hues of Wang Chung perform at the opening night of the Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront on June 7, 2025, in Richmond, Va.

People cheer for John Cafferty during the opening night of the Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront on June 7, 2025, in Richmond, Va.

Tammy Cogburn, center in dark pink, joins other fans in singing along to Wang Chung at Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront. During the band’s set, bassist Nick Feldman snapped a photo of the audience to send to his mother.

Jen Dutcher dances and cheers for John Cafferty during Saturday’s concert at Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront. Cafferty was the opener for the inaugural show at the venue.

People sit on the lawn before the first performance at the Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront on June 7, 2025, in Richmond, Va.

Attendees walk into Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront on opening night. “When you do lawn (seats) at Jiffy Lube (Live in Bristow), it’s huge. I mean, you’re so far away,” Roberta Simpson, of Federicksburg, explained. “(Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront) is so close.”

People walk into the Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront on June 7, 2025, in Richmond, Va.