The mayor of Flint recommended the Great Lakes Water Authority as a future source of drinking water for her city. It comes years after a pipe switch resulted in children ingesting lead from corroded pipes.
Mayor Karen Weaver of Flint recommended that the city use drinking water from the Great Lakes Water Authority, headquartered in Detroit.
Her announcement came during a news conference at Flint City Hall on Tuesday morning.
"I cannot change the past but [I'm] excited about where are today," said Mayor Weaver. "We all win with this plan."
Mayor Weaver's announcement Tuesday is a reversal.
Last year, she said the city of 100,000 residents would stick with a plan to draw from a pipeline to Lake Huron that is under construction. But she reevaluated that decision as a condition of receiving $100 million in federal funding to address the man-made disaster.
Weaver says switching the water source again is too risky and staying with Detroit's water is less expensive.
Flint returned to that source in 2015 after it was discovered that Flint River water was not treated to reduce lead pipe corrosion for 18 months.
The mayor said all pipes will be replaced in the city by 2019.
So far, 855 homes service lines have been replaced so far.
