https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/05/us/flint-water-lead-obama.html

FLINT, Mich. — President Obama vowed federal support for the beleaguered residents of this city on Wednesday and said government officials at all levels should have prevented Flint’s water supply from being contaminated with lead.

In his first visit to the city since the water crisis began, Mr. Obama received updates from local officials and residents, made a show of drinking filtered tap water, and told a crowd of about 1,000 people at a high school that they deserved more from their leaders.

“I’ve come here to tell you that I’ve got your back, that we’re paying attention,” Mr. Obama told the crowd, which cheered loudly.

“I will not rest,” he vowed, “and I’m going to make sure that the leaders at every level of government don’t rest until every drop of water that flows to your home is safe to drink and safe to cook with and safe to bathe in, because that’s part of the basic responsibilities of a government in the United States of America.”

Mr. Obama, who coughed occasionally throughout the speech, paused at one point and looked offstage. “Can I get a glass of water?” he asked, drawing laughs and applause.

“I really did need a glass of water,” Mr. Obama said as he sipped the water that an aide handed to him. “This is not a stunt.”

Many here welcomed the president’s message, but his visit, months after the magnitude of the water crisis became apparent, also prompted expressions of exasperation from residents who are still struggling to confront the health and safety repercussions of drinking lead-tainted water for months.

When he landed in Flint on Wednesday, the president was greeted with evident good will from people here, many of whom voted for him twice and consider themselves supporters.

But mixed with the affection were misgivings. Many Flint residents say that the federal Environmental Protection Agency shares the blame for failing to forcefully intervene early in the crisis, even after receiving complaints in 2014 that the water was foul and discolored.

Dozens of neighbors and demonstrators gathered across the street from the high school where Mr. Obama was scheduled to appear. Some chanted in unison, “Obama, Obama, can’t you see, this Flint water is killing me.” Others waved bottles filled with brown water and wore T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan #FlintLivesMatter. Volunteers carried clipboards, busily soliciting signatures as part of a statewide effort to recall Gov. Rick Snyder.

In the seventh month since officials acknowledged the crisis, with unfiltered water still unsafe to drink, many remain angry with Mr. Snyder for the state’s failure to prevent the contamination. When Mr. Snyder tried to apologize to the crowd on Wednesday, he had to speak over repeated eruptions of boos and jeers.

“You didn’t create this problem,” he said. “Government failed you.”

“You failed us,” several people in the audience yelled.

A resident picked up cases of bottled water from the Kennedy Center in Flint, Mich., last month.

But residents are also impatient that more federal aid has not made its way to Flint so that the lead pipes that contributed to the contamination can be replaced.

On Tuesday, Valerie Smith paused from taking orders at Spectacular Spudz at the Flint Farmers’ Market to recall her thoughts when she heard about Mr. Obama’s visit.