THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504280174
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Bill Reed
LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Don't toss those ``well water in use'' signs in the trash can just yet, folks.
The Lake Gaston rollercoaster ride ain't over yet.
Yeah, I know, Virginia Beach and North Carolina have reached an accord that apparently will end a 12 1/2-year legal squabble that has prevented the Beach from tapping into the man-made border lake.
Ranking officials from the city and the Tarheel state were to have inked an agreement Friday, finalizing a deal that would allow water withdrawal by 1998.
That includes dropping all legal battles that have tied the project up like a Wanchese rigger's knot in federal and state-level courts for years.
Now comes the hard part - getting the legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina to sign on, as well as the Chesapeake City Council. Then the whole caboodle has to be re-approved by both houses of Congress.
At this point Virginia Beach officials will have to jump through more hoops than a poodle in a circus act.
Chesapeake probably won't be a problem, because the city is in dire need of a large and reliable water source, as is Virginia Beach.
But the legislatures of the separate states - and the U.S. Congress - are a different matter, politics being the unpredictable game that it is.
There are strenuous objections from Roanoke River Basin communities on both sides of the state line to the 76-mile-long pipeline that is designed to carry water to Virginia Beach.
These folks are represented in the legislatures, just as we are in Virginia Beach. And their guys can yell just as loud as our guys. Ditto the congressional representatives from both states.
The next thing you know some wise guy politician throws a monkey wrench in the works and the deal goes up in a puff of smoke.
For instance, there could be a kazillion amendments tacked on to the agreement that would require the Beach to do everything from limiting pipeline withdrawal to two quarts a day to protecting the endangered one-eyed, bottom-feeding grodat that migrates to the lake for an annual mating hoedown.
From the start Roanoke River basin folks haven't taken too kindly to the notion that Virginia Beach wants to siphon water from ``their'' lake.
First, they fear that the Beach will suck the water source dry. Secondly, they fear the draw-down will seriously impede recreation-related economic growth that - so far - has been vigorous along the shoreline. Thirdly, they fear that the removal of up to 60-million gallons a day could seriously damage the flora and fauna in and around the lake.
Fourthly, and this is probably the true underlying reason behind all the resistance from people down there: they just don't like the idea of a bunch of uppity, know-it-all, suntan-oiled, mousse-haired, Gucci-wearin', Perrier-drinkin', salad-nibblin' city slickers from Virginia Beach tellin' them what to do with their water. Nosireebob!
From their point of view, the Beach's move on Lake Gaston is something akin to having a bunch of damned Yankee carpetbaggers invadin' and despoilin' their sacred homeland - all over again.
So, unless the Beach is willing to offer them some real attractive concessions, like putting a Grand Am in every garage, a case of Bud in every refrigerator, a 75-horse Evinrude on every boat and a slab of fatback in every pot of beans, those folks aren't likely to accept a Lake Gaston deal with good graces.
You can bet your beach umbrella on that. by CNB