Water worries

By Published by The Editorial Board

Published: June 3, 2008

Danville has always considered itself lucky that the Dan River was such a bountiful source of drinking water.
But Southside Virginia residents know what it’s like to fight — and lose to — a major metropolitan area that wants water. Growing metropolitan areas get nervous about their ability to supply water during droughts, but smart communities — regardless of their size — know they have to look decades into the future.
Virginia Beach spent the better part of 20 years fighting Southside Virginia and North Carolina to take 60 million gallons of water per day from Lake Gaston.
In 2002, the next potential water battle quietly began with a simple letter. The North Carolina cities of Raleigh, Durham, Cary and the county of Granville applied for the right to take 50 million gallons of water per day from the John H. Kerr Reservoir (also known as Buggs Island Lake).
While that may seem like another ominous development in the fight for water resources, the Triangle communities of North Carolina haven’t done much of anything since making the application.
“We really have not progressed past that ’02 letter,” said Allen Piner, a hydraulic engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Wilmington District.
Opponents of any water transfer from Southside Virginia hate the idea of 50 mgd traveling to the Triangle area of North Carolina. But because Kerr Reservoir and Lake Gaston sit on the Virginia-North Carolina border, “The two states would have to agree for this to be done,” said Penny Schmitt, chief of public affairs for the Corps’ Wilmington District.
That kind of discussion is years away because an ongoing study of Kerr Reservoir will be done first. That study will take at least another four years to complete.
For now, the drought that has gripped the Southeast — and brought water supply conflicts to the front page — appears to be easing. Danville still has more than enough water to meet the community’s needs.
But it’s never too soon to start planning for the future. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported Sunday that Virginia will require all local governments to provide water supply plans that look decades into the future so they can prepare for both drought and growth.
Planning also makes sense if it helps localities understand the growing competition for fresh water supplies, the legal and financial costs larger metropolitan areas will endure to get water, the need to conserve what we have and the steps that should be taken to ensure that the water we do have is not fouled.
When it comes to protecting both the quality and the quantity of local water supplies, we can never look too far into the future.