U.S. Water News Online
RALEIGH, N.C. -- As water levels in some eastern North Carolina aquifers drop, officials are scrambling to locate new water sources to meet the increasing demands of a growing region.
One innovative plan is less about "new" water than it is about recycling clean water drawn from the Castle Hayne aquifer, one of the healthiest in the region, and piping it to other parts of the region.
PCS Phosphates, one of the heaviest water users in the region, is permitted to withdraw 78 million gallons a day from Castle Hayne to dewater the phosphate beds it mines.
"That's the same amount Raleigh used on a peak day last summer," said hydrogeologist Eric Lappala. "They use 10 million gallons a day; the rest is pumped to the river."
Dumping 68 million gallons of some of the purest water in North Carolina into the river could be viewed as a waste so Lappala, a consultant with extensive experience in environmental management, and his wife, Sherol, formerly a lobbyist for the oil industry, came up with the idea of pumping that fresh water from Aurora to municipalities and industries as far away as Rocky Mount, Jacksonville, and Goldsboro.
PCS Phosphates liked the idea. "They want to pipe it to people who might be able to use it," Eric Lappala said. People who might, in fact, be desperate for water in a couple of years -- especially if they're forced to reduce their groundwater withdrawals by 75 percent, a plan currently being considered by regulators, or if the water shortage Lappala predicts in the region by 2005 materializes. In addition to providing a thirsty region with good water, the idea would probably extend the longevity of PCS's mining operations by making more beneficial use of its groundwater withdrawals.
The Lappalas formed Eagle Water Co., which has an exclusive agreement with PCS to develop the water supply. Former Wake County commissioner Robert Heater is also a partner.
If the fledgling company can line up enough customers and float a suitable bond, it will become a public utility company.
"We'd like to finance it with tax-free bonds through an entity such as a customer group or perhaps the Global TransPark," Lappala said. "We can finance it privately, but that would result in higher water rates." They also hope, as a public utility, they could build the pipelines along highway rights-of-way. "It would certainly speed up the process," Lappala said.
They've already got a head start on costs, according to Sherol Lappala. "The water source and well fields are already there," she said. "Keeping those costs down is a definite economic advantage."
Although the project is still in its infancy, the Lappalas are encouraged by initial meetings with legislators and other state officials.
"We got favorable feedback from the Public Utilities Commission and DENR," Eric Lappala said of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. They've held initial briefings for at least 16 potential customers, including New Bern, Jacksonville and Goldsboro, as well as Craven and Onslow counties, and several regional water companies. They're scheduled to discuss the proposal with officials from Cherry Point, Tarboro, Farmville, Greene County and Wayne County in the future.
If all goes according to plan, they expect to have water flowing to customers before the end of 2003.
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