EAST GREENWICH — Water problems associated with the new and rehabilitated athletic fields under construction at the high school have already cost the town $10,000 it didn’t need to spend, and that the price tag could be a lot higher.

The Town Council was told of some of the extra costs at its joint meeting with the School Committee Monday night as it tried to get a handle on how much of the $6 million approved by the voters has been used up, and whether there will be enough money to provide all the fields that were promised.

Drafting plans for an $850,000 irrigation pond that it no longer needs cost $10,000.

The architect and consultant on the project, John P. Caito, said there will be an additional cost because problems with supplying water to the project prompted the Fields Construction Committee to split the project into two phases, required two submissions to the state Department of Environmental Management instead of one.

Asked after the meeting how much the additional submission would likely cost, Caito said, “No comment.”

The pond is no longer needed because the committee subsequently found out they could buy the water from the Kent County Water Authority.

That cost will be about $15,000 this year and $40,000 in subsequent years, Caito said.

In addition, Ernie DiSaia, who is coordinating construction for the School Department, said Kent County is requiring $13,609 worth of work to hook up to its system.

“We need to have a new budget to vote on,” said Council President Michael Isaacs. Supt. Charles Meyers vowed to provide the council one in July.

The complications surfaced because Caito and the fields committee didn’t go to the DEM for permits until after construction had begun.

Town Manager William Sequino expressed concern that the Town Council was being asked to foot the bill for changes it never approved.

When voters originally approved the bond issue for new and rehabilitated fields, and when the council gave its blessing to the budget, “it was one project,” he said. “I’m not sure we should have to bear the separate costs.”

Some of the frustration over the project spilled out Monday night as Councilman Michael S. Kiernan lashed out at Caito.

“It was your job to determine if we could actually do this,” he said.

Caito responded that the problems didn’t surface until the proposal was submitted to the DEM.

“It was way too late, and here we are,” said Kiernan.

Meyers said change orders for the project already total $50,000.

“Those are costs we didn’t anticipate,” said the superintendent, who is officially retired on Wednesday and who has acknowledged that he pushed the project forward on the belief, which the DEM subsequently ruled out, that an on-site well would provide the water.

In the long run, said Meyers, “I don’t see the scope of the project changing dramatically. We may have to shave here and there.”

gemery@projo.com