You haven’t seen much in print about the proposed increase in the daily drawdown of Kerr Lake. Sometimes leadership thinks we don’t seem to need to know about the things affect us the most. The headline article of the Dispatch on April 5th gives off that odor. You may or may not have been told about this drastic increase in the depletion of our immediate area’s most valuable economic resource. Although the “official” public notice did appear in the newspaper as far away as Wilmington, somehow the folks at the Dispatch and the Warren Record cannot find where it was sent to them. Perhaps if it was, there would have been more than three private citizens at this meeting. Could it be all these wheeler-dealers of our future did not want you there?
So, what is all the deal about this Inter Basin Transfer (IBT)? “Inter” means out of ours and into theirs! There is a lot of history about the evolution of this idea – some of the modifications were not made public until after the fact (really?) – but it begins back in 1958 when this Lake was created for flood control and hydroelectric power. By the way, this form of electricity is some of the least expensive and environmentally friendly to produce. Another can of worms for another day!
But let’s get back to what is happening to our Lake. The agreement in place since way-back was to have about 20 million gallons per day (MGD) per day for our use in our portion of the Roanoke River Basin (Vance, Warren, and Granville Counties), of which 10 MGD was legally permitted to be transferred to other nearby river basins because Warren and Granville don’t discharge/return water to Kerr Lake. Then came Virginia Beach, etc. and we all know about closed boats ramps, cancelled fishing tournaments, lost spawning grounds, etc. since then. If people don’t come to the Lake, they don’t spend money in our restaurants, motels, and stores, or decide they want to vacation or live here one day. And we lose tax revenues, income, and jobs.
The proposal (via the supposedly open-to-the-public Permit procedure) is to double the 10MGD up to 20MGD. That is the maximum amount originally prescribed for all of the Vance/Warren/Granville area’s use. There will be no more water for our large future industrial, recreational, and residential development.
There is an old saying, “If you can’t convince them with the facts, dazzle them with your statistics.” (Let’s just call that the “Raleigh Shuffle.”) There are pages and pages of referrals and charts. (Go to www.ncwater.org/?page=294 and read those two pages, then open “Background Documentation, Item #2, Appendices.”) Please refer to the IBT Summary chart from all these figures attached. Anything stand out? How about a total of 11.77 MGD going to the Tar and Neuse River Basins! Just upstream from Raleigh!
We are being told by our leadership that this is to help the “poor rural counties.” Is that Franklin and Wake? What about Vance and Warren?
And, in all these figures, we do not see where the up-river from Kerr Lake is going to be infused with more water supply. So, we are going to see 10 Million Gallons per Day coming out of our Lake, destined south for the next 30 years. We are being told it will not affect our lake levels. Look at a Google Map of Lake Mead in Arizona where Las Vegas and Los Angeles have been taking “a little bit” of water every day for the last 30 years.
Don’t let your Lake be sold out! Let the business and residential growth come to Warren and Vance County. We already have the water!
We have just a few short weeks until April 30th to stop this runaway train. Other people are forcing review of this proposal on the grounds of environmental and economic impacts, as well as the legality of all these behind the scenes maneuvers. But we are the ones to register the public protest – as we would have if the public meeting notice had been more public! Look for a petition to sign so we can pummel the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Or you can directly email: Kim.Nimmer@ncdenr.gov. Or US mail:
Kim Nimmer
NCDENR
512 N. Salisbury St.
1611 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1611
Petitions can be found here: http://homeinhenderson.com/2015/04/09/news/public-petition-save-our-lake-water-deadline-april-30th-2015/
INTER BASIN TRANSFER SUMMARY FOR KERR LAKE REGIONAL WATER SYSTEM
| Current | Proposed | Increase | |
| Withdrawal (MGD) | 7.67 | 20.07 | 10 plus |
| Vance return to KL | 2.69 | 3.02 | .33 |
| IBT Franklin/Tar River | 3.63 | 12.84 | 9.21 |
| IBT Warren/Tar River | .82 | 1.85 | 1.03 |
| IBT Granville/Neuse | .19 | 1.72 | 1.53 |
John Hyson
Manson, NC