WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - A request to permanently take 6.17 million gallons a day (MGD) from the Cape Fear River is facing opposition from local officials, leaders and organizations in Southeastern North Carolina.
According to the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA), the town of Fuquay-Varina is seeking an Interbasin Transfer Certificate (IBT) to take 6.17 MGD from the river for the town’s use without replacing it.
With a lack of water supply and a growing community, the town says it’s trying to meet demand for the next 30 years. A comment request from the town wasn’t immediately returned on Tuesday.
CFPUA said, if approved, the certificate would result in 6.17 MGD of treated wastewater being discharged into the Neuse River, with the same amount of water taken away from the Cape Fear River.
According to CFPUA, 6.17 MGD of raw water from the river is enough to provide treated drinking water to more than 27,000 homes. The river is a source of drinking water for more than 500,000 people around the state.
“We believe an interbasin transfer is essentially choosing who succeeds and who doesn’t. It’s picking winners and losers in terms of growth in the future,” CFPUA Executive Director Kenneth Waldroup said.
CFPUA said the proposal could reduce the river’s baseline flow and increase water shortage risks, including during droughts when water providers impose restrictions to ensure sufficient water is available for critical uses.
The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) has also expressed concern about Fuquay-Varina’s plan, saying that reductions could cause a potential threat to the wildlife, including different types of fish.
“It is definitely a serious concern, financial and ecological,” said Kemp Burdette with Cape Fear River Watch. “You can definitely see a scenario where we’re doing serious water-saving measures, where people aren’t allowed to wash their cars or use their sprinklers or anything like that.”
The proposal, CFPUA said, would also set a dangerous precedent for other cities and towns to meet their needs for water by taking more water from the river at the expense of the Lower Cape Fear.
“People can borrow water – and we’re fine with that,“ Waldroup said. ”But they have to return that water for our use.”
The town could return the water to the Cape Fear River, but its preferred plan -- and, according to CFPUA, the less expensive one -- is to discharge into the Neuse River instead. That leaves people downstream, especially in Southeastern North Carolina, holding the short end of the stick -- one that could prove highly costly, too.
Waldroup said their options are limited if the certificate goes through. They could desalinate ocean water, which he said costs $40 a gallon. So for every one million gallons removed, that would be an additional $40 million of capacity they’d have to replace, a burden that would fall on CFPUA ratepayers.
“There’s no other way around it. For these millions of gallons that are removed, it will cost our ratepayers tens of millions of dollars to replace,” he said.
Opposition is regional, Waldroup said. More than 20 municipalities, utilities and businesses have already passed resolutions, written letters and submitted official comments to oppose Fuquay-Varina’s plan. These include the following:
“The Cape Fear River is the primary water source for half a million people in our region and protecting that supply must come first,” said Bill Rivenbark, Chairman, New Hanover County Board of Commissioners. “We’re opposed to Fuquay-Varina’s plan to permanently remove more than six million gallons a day without returning it, especially when the draft environmental impact statement shows there are alternatives that keep the water in the river. We’ve asked the state for more time to review this proposal and for a public hearing in the Lower Cape Fear so our communities have a chance to be heard.”
The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC) is holding a public hearing on the draft EIS as part of Fuquay-Varina’s application for an IBT.
None of the three public hearings, though, are in the Wilmington area, something CFPUA and other groups are hoping to change.
The first meeting will be held on Thursday, Dec. 4, at 6 p.m., in the Cumberland Hall Auditorium at Fayetteville Technology Community College.
Two other public meetings are scheduled on Tuesday, Dec. 9, in Raleigh and Thursday, Dec. 11, in Pittsboro. Stakeholders have requested the EMC to add another public hearing in the region.
Residents who cannot attend one of the meetings and submit a comment by April 1, by email or sending comments by mail to Maya Holcomb at the following address:
Division of Water Resources
512 N. Salisbury St.
Raleigh, N.C., 27604
919-554-2223
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