Charlotte’s water treatment system wants to be able to remove between 30 to 33 million more gallons of water per day from the Catawba River basin that would not be returned to the river after it is used.
Another municipality may request the same.
In this file photo from November 2023, the Catawba River courses through ɫ behind the River Village shopping center.
Along with Charlotte, the town of Mooresville is also considering asking to withdrawal more water from the Catawba River that would not be returned to the river.
Charlotte Water is seeking the additional water transfer for the next 30 years, Anthony Starr, executive director of the Western Piedmont Council of Governments, told the Burke County Board of Commissioners on Monday.
Charlotte Water currently has the ability to withdraw 33 million gallons of water a day from the Catawba River and transfer it to another river basin once used and treated. Concord/Kannapolis, which is in the Yadkin River Basin, also currently can transfer 10 million gallons a day from the Catawba River Basin, and the town of Mooresville can transfer 9.5 million gallons.
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Area residents addressed Charlotte Water with various questions, comments and concerns about the request to transfer more water from the Catawba River during a meeting in July at CoMMA in ɫ.
The Western Piedmont Council of Governments is working with local governments in Burke, Catawba, Caldwell, Alexander and McDowell counties to fight Charlotte’s request to transfer more. Officials in those counties have spoken out against the additional transfer request from the city of Charlotte.
Starr said the area needs to protect its water. He said there are six treatment plants in the region that provide water in Catawba, Burke, Alexander and Caldwell counties.
He gave some statistics on the Catawba River basin about how much is lost already:
- 3,700 million gallons of water per day flow through the Catawba River Basin.
- 204 million gallons are lost through evaporation.
- 110 million gallons are pulled from it for drinking water.
- About 57 million gallons are used by the power plants along the Catawba River
- 37 million gallons are pulled out for agriculture.
“We are not opposed to Charlotte Water. We just don’t want that growth to occur at the expense of our region,” Starr said. “And the limited resources of the Catawba River shouldn’t be used to subsidize growth outside of the river basin.”
A packed room at the Ridgeview Branch Library waits to hear from Charlotte Water during a meeting on May 8.
Starr said the council of governments is coordinating regional discussions and the response to the transfer request. He said the council hired an attorney and an advocacy firm to represent the area’s interests to state leaders.
He expects the state Environmental Management Commission, which decides whether to grant or deny water transfer requests, to start its portion of the process in 2026, which will include a public hearing.
Starr said Charlotte Water is currently working on its Environmental Impact Statement, which is a required part of the process.
Charlotte Water is not the only government utility requesting a transfer from the Catawba River.
The town of Mooresville currently has the ability to pull 9.54 million gallons per day from the Catawba River that can be used, treated and released into a different river basin.
In September, the town of Mooresville gave notice to the state of its intent to request an new transfer amount. In its letter to the Environmental Management Commission, the town said because of its growth, it is considering several alternatives to expand its wastewater treatment capacity.
One of the options is to request transferring up to 12.6 million gallons a day, which is an additional 3 million gallons of water per day above its current transfer, Starr said.
The second option would be to send all that water back to the Catawba River after it’s treated at its wastewater treatment plant near the Rocky River basin, Starr said.
The third option would be for Mooresville to contract with a neighboring utility such as Charlotte Water to send some of the wastewater down to Charlotte that would then put the water back into the Catawba River, he said.
Allison Kraft, water resources director for the town of Mooresville, said the town, which sits between the Catawba and Yadkin river basins, is not requesting an additional withdrawal from the Catawba River. She said the town withdraws well under its current 9.54 million gallons per day from the Catawba.
Kraft said the town is considering requesting the transfer amount to replace its current approval, which was grandfathered in. A new certificate to replace its current legacy transfer. It would allow for the town’s growth and the need to expand its existing wastewater treatment plant, Kraft said.
Starr said Mooresville has been proactive, provided more information than Charlotte on its request and is communicating.
He said council of governments and its local governments are not supporting or opposing the Mooresville request. He said they are still assessing the information on it.
In other business, Burke County commissioners:
- Agreed to waive fees for Hurricane Helene damage permits.
- Approved a project management agreement between the county and Burke Development Inc. to use $20 million appropriated for Great Meadows megasite to construct shell buildings at the Burke Business Park on Kathy Road in ɫ.
