Burke, Hickory, Caldwell residents: Charlotte needs to control growth instead of demanding more water (2024)

Residents from Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties delivered a message Monday night to the city of Charlotte and Charlotte Water: Control your growth before you ask for more water from the Catawba River.

Charlotte Water held a meeting Monday night at CoMMA in Morganton to discuss a plan to amend a 2002 agreement to transfer water from the Catawba River. The amended agreement would allow the utility to move 30 million additional gallons of water a day from the Catawba River to the Rocky River basin. Charlotte Water currently is allowed to remove 33 million gallons of water a day from the Catawba River basin due to the 2002 agreement.

Angela Charles, director of Charlotte Water, Ron Hargrove, deputy director of Charlotte Water, and Linwood Peele, water supply planning chief with the N.C. Division of Environmental Quality, kicked off the meeting with a presentation explaining the plan to amend the agreement.

Part of the process includes developing environmental documents for NCDEQ that will include public comments and questions from the seven meetings in communities along the Catawba River. The Morganton meeting is the sixth of the seven meetings. A final public meeting will be held at 6 p.m. July 29 at Dutchman Creek Middle School in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

The process of developing environmental documents will take two to three years, Charles said.

Charlotte Water serves 1.14 million customers. Water system officials say it is at 79% of its current capacity, according to information provided during the meeting.

While Charlotte Water is trying to meet the growth of the Charlotte area, the people speaking out Monday night said amending the agreement with Charlotte could negatively impact the growth of towns and cities along the Catawba River. Local governments along the Catawba River have made it clear they are not in favor of changes to the agreement.

Don Newton of Granite Falls told Charlotte Water that he’s a member of the Lenoir Chamber of Commerce and that his county has its own plans to grow jobs. He said overall economic growth in the region could be stunted due to limitations on water intensive industries and could lead to the potential for increased costs associated with water scarcity.

Newton said Charlotte could mitigate those impacts by investing in water conservation measures to promote efficient water use and explore alternative water sources. He said any such plans the city may have were not part of Charlotte Water’s presentation.

Newton received applause and cheers when he said everyone he has talked to is against amending the transfer. He then proposed they transfer 66 million gallons a day from the Rocky River basin into the Catawba River.

Roy Cook is a builder in Hildebran. He asked the Charlotte Water officials if residents along the Catawba have the right to refuse their water going to Charlotte, saying getting water from the river lessens the cost for Charlotte to expand.

Cook said it’s always the case that a developer of a subdivision has to factor water and sewer costs into the cost of the overall project. He asked if subdivision builders in Charlotte are being hit with a portion of that cost.

He also asked if the transfer amendment can be settled by a voting referendum from residents along the chain or if it would be decided by a roomful of people who will tell them the decision after the fact. Charlotte Water officials didn’t respond to his questions.

Others spoke about the changes they have seen in the river over the years, as well as the wildlife dependent on it.

Mark Vitrone said that as a child living in Florida, he saw The Everglades drained by the same types of water transfers. He added that the environmental impact to the Florida wetlands has been great.

Vitrone said he questions why the Catawba River basin has to provide the means for growth so people from states that are too dry can move here and further congest the area.

Doug Nichols lives in Caldwell County and said he grew up in Burke County. He said there is a finite resource in water and he hasn’t heard Charlotte Water say anything about conserving water. He asked if the organization has talked to planning boards in their service area about controlling growth.

Nichols said the fact that Charlotte Water has fallen short in its 30-year prediction of water needs in approximately five years tells him that Charlotte is not controlling growth.

Larry Davis, owner of Castle Bridge Marina, said he moved to the area to get away from Charlotte. He said Charlotte Water needs to leave this area’s water alone and figure out another way to meet its growth needs.

He said while Charlotte Water and the state may call it a transfer, he calls it greed.

Davis said what Charlotte wants to do to sustain its growth is take it away from the areas along the Catawba River. “You can put a skirt and lipstick on a pig, but at the end of the day it’s still a pig,” Davis said.