THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 17, 1996 TAG: 9605170536
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Virginia Beach overcame a major hurdle in its battle to pipe North Carolina water to Virginia Thursday when the county Board of Supervisors agreed unanimously to approve a conditional use permit that will allow the city to dump up to 60 million gallons of Lake Gaston water a day into a small pond near Windsor.
In exchange, the county, along with residents who live along a tributary to the Suffolk lakes, where the water will end up, will reap some rewards.
Virginia Beach agreed to pay Isle of Wight $600,000 a year for five years, a total of $3 million. The money must be used ``for the protection or enhancement of water quality within the watersheds of Ennis Pond channel, Burnt Mill Reservoir, Western Branch Reservoir or Lake Prince.'' That may include, but is not restricted to, the construction or installation of sewer systems.
Meanwhile, residents who live along the channel will be compensated for easements by up to one and one-half times the value of their properties; they will have an information/complaint telephone hot line to call with complaints if the water causes damage to their property or in case of other emergencies; and Isle of Wight County will retain the right to continue to protect the rights of its landowners.
Isle of Wight originally approved a permit in 1987 to allow Virginia Beach to construct a pumping station near Windsor, where the pipeline from the lake which straddles the Virginia/North Carolina line will terminate. The water at that point would have been pumped through additional pipes to the Suffolk lakes.
Late last year, Virginia Beach proposed eliminating the pumping station and dumping the water directly into Ennis Pond. Negotiations between the county and the city have gone on for more than five months.
Virginia Beach resumed construction of the pipeline over the winter, four years after a court had ordered the city to stop work. Only about a mile of the pipe had been installed when the city was told to get another federal permit before constructing the project.
As of this week, 10 miles of the 76-mile pipeline have been completed.
Virginia Beach will draw up to 48 million gallons of water a day from the pipeline. Chesapeake is entitled to as much as 10 million gallons a day, and Franklin and Isle of Wight can take as much as 1 million gallons per day each.
The continued right to that water also was included in the agreement between the city and the county.
North Carolina and leaders along the Roanoke River on both sides of the state line have fought the pipeline for 13 years. They worry that if South Hampton Roads gets the water, it will also get development that would otherwise have located along the river. by CNB