DATE: Sunday, November 9, 1997              TAG: 9711090065

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT  

                                            LENGTH:   26 lines

RESERVOIR COMES UP DRY IN POLL, SIERRA CLUB SAYS

Environmentalists took their fight against the proposed King William Reservoir to the polls Tuesday, and the results are in, they reported Friday: 93 percent of respondents in King William County oppose the project.

The Sierra Club, which for months has tried to block an expanded drinking water supply for the city of Newport News, asked all 5,630 registered voters in King William County whether they supported diverting the Mattaponi River, as proposed.

Of the 1,975 people who responded to the straw poll, 1,836 said no, 132 said yes, and seven were undecided, said Tyla Matteson, a member of the Virginia Sierra Club and the Alliance to Save the Mattaponi. ``I knew the numbers would be high, but not this high,'' Matteson said.

The waterworks project, which Newport News says is needed to meet anticipated growth, is expected to come before the State Water Control Board for a key vote next month.

At 8 p.m. Wednesday, officials from the Sierra Club and Newport News City Hall will hold a debate on the subject at the Sinai Temple in Newport News.

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