Framed by some sharp criticism of Richmond for last week’s water crisis , Virginia Senate Republicans are working on a bill that would require a director of water utilities to have a professional qualification, most likely an engineering degree.

They also said they want to dig into what went wrong and what systematic failures might have caused the five-day failure in the city , which also affected Henrico and Hanover counties.

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"As we look at water from the state direction, we do need to look at what happened in the city under the former Democratic mayor," said Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, referring to Levar Stoney, one of five Democrats seeking the party's nomination for lieutenant governor.

State Sen. Glen Sturtevant, R-Chesterfield, is working on a proposal requiring some kind of professional qualification to lead a water utility. Exactly what that might be is to be determined.

“You can't be a prosecutor if you do not have a law degree. So that is certainly not something that is unreasonable for us to have the conversation about water utilities,” McDougle said, adding that the bill would probably require an engineering degree.

He said the directors of the water utilities in Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover counties are all engineers.

April Bingham, right, director of the Richmond Department of Public Utilities, is seen speaking in 2022.

April N. Bingham, director of Richmond’s Department of Public Utilities , which runs the city’s water, wastewater, stormwater and streetlight utilities, has a bachelor’s degree in business and master's in public administration. She was deputy director for customer service before taking over as director in 2021. Before joining the Richmond department, she oversaw the Washington, D.C., Water and Sewer Authority’s $33 million meter upgrade project and also served as the manager in charge of billing, and field services.

McDougle said a 2022 report found 44 issues of concern at the city water treatment plant.

“The response to that report came out, not in ‘22 not in ‘23 not in ‘24 but Jan. 3 of 2025, almost three years later. That's not acceptable,” he said.

McDougle said the lack of action on formal requests for contractors to bid on mechanical upgrades and equipment replacement at the city water treatment plants in 2016, 2021 and 2022 is also a concern.

“We need to find out why those RFPs (work requests) were not completed, why the system was not upgraded during that time,” he said.

“We also know during this time that the city of Richmond, then led by the former Democratic mayor, received about $155 million in American Rescue Plan funds that could be used for infrastructure,” he said.

Instead, the city used those federal funds for climate change studies and to improve recreation facilities and to buy new parks, he said.

Zach Marcus, manager of Stoney’s campaign for lieutenant governor, has said that under state code, the mayor is not responsible for securing contracts with vendors.

“(Stoney) did not and would not be involved in any procurement decision per the Virginia Public Procurement Act,” Marcus said, but “budgets Mayor Stoney proposed included funds available for needed updates to the switchgear.”

Marcus added: “Ultimately, solutions for aging water infrastructure throughout our Commonwealth will require real, sustained state investment in addition to local and regional partnerships."

Mayor Danny Avula gives a news conference in Richmond on Saturday about lifting the boil water advisory.

McDougle said he’s pleased that Mayor Danny Avula, who took office just a few days before the crisis, has set an independent investigation, but that the legislature needs to dig in as well, so it can come up with policies to make sure water crises don’t happen again.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin has said that the Office of Drinking Water in the Virginia Department of Health also will investigate.

Avula has said he was “absolutely impressed with (Bingham's) attentiveness and response" as the DPU worked to restore water service.

He said he would hold DPU leadership and staff accountable should an investigation determine human error contributed to the crisis.

Virginia National Guard provides water distribution in Richmond on Friday