Glenn Watkins, a seasoned expert in matters pertaining to the setting of water rates throughout the eastern seaboard, demolished the bases for the Fairfax Water Authority’s lawsuit against the City of Falls Church in re-direct testimony in the Fairfax Circuit Court today.

Watkins established that Falls Church’s policies regarding the sale of its water to customers outside its jurisdiction are in keeping with widespread practices elsewhere in Virginia, including the appropriateness by widespread industry standards of taking a reasonable return on investment, and that both the City’s water rate structure and rate of return on investment are well within the ranges of industry practice. Attorneys for the Fairfax Water System were reduced to “quibbling” over numbers in Watkins’ report by way of introducing hypothetical alternative scenarios, and to disputing what was clearly indisputable, namely, Watkins’ credentials and competence as an expert witness. The trial continues this afternoon through Wednesday.