Charlotte Water proposes plans to transfer water from Catawba River

ROCK HILL, S.C. ( QUEEN CITY NEWS ) – Charlotte Water officials are outlining plans to transfer millions of gallons of water from the Catawba River Basin to the Rocky River Basin.

They shared the proposal Monday night at a public meeting in Rock Hill. It’s intended to meet growth in the Charlotte area and more that could come.

Several people who live along the Catawba River in South Carolina shared their concerns about how moving this water could affect their future growth.

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“You can’t live without water,” said Fort Mill Mayor Guynn Savage. “I do think it will be impossible for me to support.”

Many people who spoke at the meeting said they do not favor the plans.

“Our position is that it’s not sustainable and frankly irresponsible to simply allocate more of the Catawba water to other basins,” said Brandon Jones, the Catawba Riverkeeper.

His was just one of many concerns shared by people in Rock Hill about Charlotte Water’s plans for a new inter-basin transfer. That’s where a utility takes surface water from one basin and returns it to another.

“As the community continues to grow, we need to seek an increase to the inter-basin transfer that would allow us to take some additional water and provide service to the eastern part of Mecklenburg County,” said David Czerr, deputy director of Charlotte Water Department.

Right now, Charlotte Water takes about 33 million gallons per day from the Catawba River. Officials are looking to increase that number by up to 30 million more.

“Overall, comparatively, we believe that’s a very small amount of water that is available in the overall Catawba River,” said Czerr.

The city would pump Catawba water for everyday use and return portions of treated wastewater to a separate basin around the Rocky River.

“Without an increase to the inter-basin transfer, it would potentially limit the amount of water we could utilize in the eastern third of a service area in Mecklenburg County and that could have long-term effects on our growth,” said Czerr.

Leaders have filed a notice of intent and wrapped up the public comment portion of the process Monday night with the Rock Hill meeting.

“Chester County is definitely looking at growing and we’ve got growth issues every day and we’ve got water issues,” said Rep. Randy Ligon, who represents Chester and York Counties in the South Carolina House.

As community members express their concerns, Charlotte Water officials want everyone to know they’re exploring all options to make sure everyone’s best interest is met.

“We are all a part of the Catawba River Basin and we are interested in being a good partner in how that resource is used,” said Czerr.

This is a very long, multi-year process. Environmentalists will conduct studies and state regulators still have to approve the change before it can take effect. Officials said it’ll be two to three years before we see the end result.

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