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Will Our Water Needs Be Met?

Posted on: Monday, 14 November 2005, 18:00 CST

By Bruce Henderson, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Nov. 13--New demands on the Catawba River are renewing concerns about the river's ability to meet the long-term water needs of the booming Charlotte region.

The Catawba serves up a wealth of water. But withdrawals, by cities from Charlotte to Mount Holly, are expected to more than double over the next half-century. Severe drought could cripple key reservoirs, recent studies show.

Communities wonder who will referee the use of a 220-mile river that flows from the N.C. mountains to South Carolina's Midlands.

Against that backdrop, water-poor Concord and Kannapolis asked for state approval to pipe up to 38 million gallons a day -- a third as much as Mecklenburg uses -- from the Catawba into their Rocky River basin.

The plan at first drew little notice. But nearly 50 speakers, many of them against or wary of the plan, filled public hearings in June. Last week, opponents from high in the Catawba's headwaters drove to Raleigh for a state meeting on the proposal.

"Where the hell do they think that water comes from?" asked Lake James homeowner Graham Morgan.

Morgan and his wife, Bobbie, moved to the lake in 2001, near the end of the worst drought in a century. Boat ramps closed and docks became useless because the lake drew so far down. The longtime Chicago residents had searched the Southeast before settling on James, with its clear water and rim of mountains.

"We don't want anything to mess that up," Morgan said.

That kind of anxiety hangs over the entire basin:

--New studies show that another severe drought, like the 1998-2002 spell, could plunge Charlotte's water supply perilously low without new conservation measures.

--Water districts, for the first time, are haggling with Duke Power over its proposal that they pay for water, which has been free as air.

--Legislators in both Carolinas created a Catawba River commission to head off water wars that have gripped other Southeastern states with interstate waters. Some expect such fights will reach the Catawba, where water demand is surging even faster than population growth.

Catawba Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby said the Concord-Kannapolis proposal shows that the Catawba needs a water-allocation policy. Environmental studies supporting the proposal, she said, cherry-picked data without assessing its true impact.

Without a scientific forum to decide who gets water, Lisenby said, "we are left to fight over the resource. It means that the most politically powerful governments will win."

The environmental study is being revised, and Concord now says it could accept a smaller initial allocation. The state Environmental Management Commission won't make a decision before early next year.

But Concord City Manager Brian Hiatt said regional cooperation shouldn't stop at basin boundaries. Upstream towns in Mecklenburg and Iredell counties, he noted, don't complain about dumping their treated sewage Concord's way.

"If you see this only as your backyard," Hiatt said, "you've got blinders on."

Downstream, Rock Hill public services administrator Nick Stegall worries that basin-to-basin transfers such as Cabarrus County's could open the door to larger demands in the future.

"I don't think anyone should ask for more than they need or can use now," he said.

The river commission, which held its first meeting in October, made its initial goal assessing water supplies and demand in both states. Without such a plan, said state Sen. Dan Clodfelter, a Charlotte Democrat and commission vice chairman, it's hard to evaluate requests for water like Concord's.

"You're really handicapped," Clodfelter said. "You don't know if you're approving a plan that may cause you problems farther down or up the river."

Duke Power will soon complete studies that give the first comprehensive look at Catawba water supplies over the next half-century.

The studies are part of Duke's work to negotiate terms of a new hydroelectric license. Duke hopes to win public support in February for a management plan that's intended to keep water above critical levels.

Several communities in the basin have urged the Environmental Management Commission to delay a decision on the Concord-Kannapolis proposal until those big-picture studies are finished.

Duke's initial analysis raised warning flags. By 2038, it showed, more water would be pumped from Lake Norman and Mountain Island Lake than they could reliably supply during a severe drought. The lakes serve Mecklenburg and surrounding counties.

A second study, now under way, factors in new conservation measures that would kick in during dry spells. It's expected to show that all Catawba lakes can meet future demand -- including basin-to-basin transfers -- during a drought like the one that persisted from 1998 to 2002.

"What could make it be off would probably be a drought that's longer," said Duke senior engineer Ed Bruce.

WE'RE IN DROUGHT AGAIN

North Carolina's central third -- including southern and eastern Mecklenburg, Union and Cabarrus counties -- is in a first-level drought, a federal index showed last week. A dry fall has left Charlotte with 3.6 inches less rain than normal since Sept. 1. Local water agencies should enforce local use restrictions and project water needs for the next 90 days, says the N.C. Drought Management Advisory Council. Charlotte- Mecklenburg Utilities' water index is stable, meaning no special restrictions are in place. Catawba River lake levels are down as much as 3.8 feet (at Lake Norman) but within normal ranges as Duke Power begins its annual draw-down to make room for spring rains.

MORE WATER FROM THE CATAWBA

These municipal water agencies have recently increased their withdrawals, or want to:

--Statesville, new 15 million-gallon-a-day intake on Lookout Shoals Lake, opened this summer.

--Mooresville, new 12 mgd-capacity water plant on Lake Norman, approved in August.

--Mount Holly, increased maximum withdrawals from Mountain Island Lake from 3 to 13.5 mgd, approved in 2004.

--Charlotte-Mecklenburg, maximum 33 mgd basin transfer to Rocky River basin, approved in 2002.

--Concord and Kannapolis, maximum 38 mgd basin transfer to Rocky River basin, awaiting a state decision.

--Charlotte-Mecklenburg, increased maximum pumping rate from Mountain Island Lake from 165 mgd to 330 mgd, awaiting a federal decision.

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

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DUK,

Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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