FLINT, MI -- Mayor Karen Weaver is recommending that the city remains a long-term customer of what was the Detroit water system and abandon an effort to treat its own raw water again.

Speaking during a news conference Tuesday, April 18, Weaver said she supports making the Great Lakes Water Authority the city's permanent water source and endorsed using pre-treated water from Genesee County as the city's emergency back-up.

Additional details were expected from the news conference, including comments by representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, both of which have regulatory responsibility for the city's water system.

Weaver's position is a departure from what she advocated just five months ago.

At that time, the mayor told the EPA that the city's primary source of water "will be the Flint water treatment plant" and the backup source would be a massive new reservoir with enough capacity to supply Flint residents and businesses with water for three days.

Since that time, the EPA has continued to press the city for evidence it was making progress on its plans, including upgrades to its treatment plant and personnel.

In December, the EPA required the city to continue to use water pre-treated by GLWA "until the city has demonstrated that all requirements (of an emergency order) are met and EPA has concurred."

Since Flint officials agreed to join Genesee County in forming the Karegnondi Water Authority, the city's long-term water plan revolved around using its treatment plant and raw water from a new Lake Huron pipeline to cut the cost of buying water treated by others.

That plan suffered a crushing blow when the city, while being run by a series of state-appointed emergency managers, failed to properly treat raw water from the Flint River, leading to a water emergency.

The city began using the river as a temporary water source in an effort to save money and bridge the gap between buying pre-treated water from Detroit and completion of the KWA pipeline.

The water crisis occurred after the state DEQ failed to require the city to treat the river water to make it less corrosive, and the water caused lead to leach from lead pipes, plumbing and solder.