South Kingstown residents remain under a full outdoor water ban imposed by Veolia on June 30, and during a work session held Monday, July 13, council members again pressed the utility's representatives on why New York customers get conservation rebates that Rhode Island customers do not, according to the South Kingstown Town Council's published meeting recording.
A council member opened the exchange by congratulating Veolia on winning a New York conservation award for the second time, then asked when South Kingstown might see similar programs — rebates for rain barrels, low-flow toilets and low-flow showerheads. The council member said she has raised the same request "for years" without a result.
Sophia Salis, who works with Veolia's director of operations, Chris Jacobs, on conservation, introduced herself and said rebate programs in New York are funded through that state's rate case process, approved by New York's public service commission. She said Veolia could propose a similar program to Rhode Island's regulator in a future rate filing, adding, "I would love to see that as well." She said the company's New York rebate program issued about 14,000 rebates over the past ten years.
The council member said she would like Veolia to at least offer a $50 rebate toward a $75 rain barrel, calling it a "small token" given how the region's rain now arrives in short, heavy bursts that overwhelm gutters rather than steady, absorbable rainfall. Salis responded that behavioral change — particularly around outdoor water use, which she said roughly doubles the average household's summer consumption — matters more than rebates in the current climate, and said Veolia is focused for now on managing the immediate supply shortage.
Council members pushed back on that framing. One member noted that South Kingstown had already responded to Veolia's usage concerns by passing an outdoor irrigation ordinance a year ago, restricting watering to two days a week, and that the town has continued to curb demand on its own even as the water ban took effect. "We are curbing our outdoor use. We are changing our behavior and we're still asking for rain barrels," the member said, adding that Veolia had offered no response despite repeated requests. Another member said the disconnect was frustrating given that Veolia's public communication in other areas is effective, asking why a rebate program couldn't be replicated in South Kingstown since, in the company representatives' own telling, the same division runs conservation efforts in both states.
Salis said she was hearing the specific rain-barrel request for the first time and acknowledged "there's value to the rebate program," but did not commit to a timeline or a proposal to Rhode Island regulators. Jacobs, for his part, told the council earlier in the session that South Kingstown's irrigation ordinance appeared to be working, saying the town's water use on designated off days — Wednesdays and weekends — had improved enough to let storage tanks recover, something that did not happen during last year's drought.
The rebate exchange came amid a broader discussion of the water ban's cause, which town and company officials described as a source problem layered on top of the demand problem the town's ordinance was designed to address. Officials said groundwater levels have been low since November, with only a temporary rebound in March tied to snowmelt before dry conditions returned. Veolia representatives said the company is exploring a new well site, though they declined to name the location because it involves private property, and separately estimated that restoring three town-owned wells taken offline for iron contamination years ago could cost roughly $15 million, not including additional costs to filter PFAS chemicals detected at levels above EPA guidance.
No vote or formal action on a rebate program occurred during the discussion; council members asked Veolia to return with updates on the water ban's status and did not set a specific deadline for a rebate proposal. Residents can find agendas and materials for upcoming South Kingstown Town Council meetings, including the council's next meeting on July 27, through the town clerk's office.