Ridenbaugh Press/Water Rights

The Western Tidewater Water Authority, which manages much of the water supply in the Norfolk, Virginia area, in July announced a deal shifting surplus water from Norfolk to several other communities – including Suffolk and Isle of Wight – which have needed more.

Pumping is slated to begin in 2014, at a level of three million gallons a day, though that would be expected to rise over time. The complex financing underlying the effort will run into many millions of dollars.

[Newport News (VA) Daily Press, July 11. Smithfield (VA) Times, July 11.)

The proposed King William Reservoir, a water impoundment proposed for years by a local government coalition led by the city of Newport News and permitted by the Army Corps of Engineers, may have hit an irreversible roadblock – federal court.

The project had been rolling forward.

King William Reservoir

In March 2008 the King Williams County Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 in favor of an Interim Project Financing Agreement. The agreement states that the county will continue to purchase the 3,000 acres needed for the reservoir site (link to land details elsewhere on webpage) using funds provided by the City. The properties will remain in the county’s name and lease payments on the land will be suspended until the County repays the initial purchase cost. The city has agreed to pay the real estate taxes on the land to make up for lost revenue until the lease payments resume.

The project has, however, also generated strong local opposition.

The Southern Environmental Law Center, which expressed concerns about the project, offered this overview:

A federal court has overturned a permit issued by the Corps of Engineers for a massive impoundment in King William County, Virginia that would have resulted in the single largest, authorized loss of wetlands in the mid-Atlantic region in the last 37 years. The U.S. District Court in D.C. ruled late yesterday that the Corps’ finding that the reservoir proposed by Newport News would not cause significant harm to the environment was “arbitrary and capricious.”

“This is a strong ruling by the court that the environmental costs of the proposed reservoir far outweigh the benefit,” said SELC Senior Attorney Deborah Murray, who represents three environmental plaintiff groups in the years-long legal fight to stop the project. “We’re extremely pleased.”

Newport News and a consortium of five other Virginia localities have sought for decades to build the King William reservoir, which includes a 1,500-acre impoundment on Cohoke Creek (a tributary of the Pamunkey River) and a pipeline to withdraw water from the Mattaponi River, both tributaries to the Chesapeake Bay. The project would destroy 400 acres of wetlands and inundate 21 stream miles, as well as harm the livelihoods and cultural sites of Native Americans. Cost estimates from last year put the project at $289 million.

In 2001, the Norfolk District of the Corps rejected the project on the grounds that it would significantly degrade water and wetland resources and that Newport News had greatly inflated its water needs. Independent studies show that the projected water need for the region would be less than half the amount that Newport News claimed to justify the project. However, the Corps’ North Atlantic Division ultimately issued the permit in November 2005. The Southern Environmental Law Center filed suit in U.S. District Court in 2006 on behalf of the Alliance to Save the Mattaponi, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Federal Judge Henry Kennedy, in his 33-page ruling yesterday, held that the Corps’ finding that no other less environmentally damaging alternatives existed was arbitrary and capricious because of Newport News’ significantly inflated demand projections and the Corps’ failure adequately to examine alternatives in light of the reduced need and higher cost of the reservoir. Likewise, the court found that the Corps’ claim that the wetland mitigation plan would adequately compensate for the ecological function and value of the lost wetlands was arbitrary and capricious.

The judge also ruled in favor of the environmental groups’ challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s failure to veto the permit. He remanded the permit to the Corps for review in light of the court’s findings.

“This project was ill-conceived and environmentally destructive when it was proposed 20 years ago, and the court is saying it still is,” said Jon Mueller, litigation director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). “The immense damage that would be caused by this project was always out of proportion to the alleged need.”

“We sincerely hope that Newport News will finally turn its attention to other, less destructive means of supplying water to the region, including conservation and efficiency,” Murray said. “We also hope the Corps and the EPA, both of which are bound by law to ensure the health of the nation’s water resource

s, ultimately reject this over-sized and harmful project.”

The Virginia county of Botetourt is asking the State Corporation Commission for revocation of corporate filings of Central Water Company, based in Roanoke. Their complaint: That Central is trying to over-expand into the U.S. 220 corridor and gain control of too many water rights there.

County Administrator Jerry Burgess said that “The county has a master plan for the future. Provision of water, wastewater, road improvements, all those things enable elected officials to plan and manage growth. That is why any huge change away from that plan is important.”

The water company, however, points out that last year it asked the state commission for permission to expand. The county, in turn, said that the firm was “deceptive” in some respects when it filed its request.

Aqua America, Inc. said in December its operating subsidiary in Virginia completed two water system acquisitions to expand the company’s customer base. The combined purchase price for the newly acquired systems is approximately $200,000. The company also announced its Pennsylvania and Illinois subsidiaries have completed the acquisitions of two water companies in their respective states.
In Virginia, the company purchased the assets of the White Oak Estates public water system in Botetourt County, as well as The Green and The Lodge public water systems in Lancaster County. The newly acquired systems currently serve a combined population of approximately 500 people, with a number of new residential developments under construction and/or proposed in the systems’ service areas.
In addition, The Green and The Lodge operations are adjacent to the company’s existing Kingsland water system, and the three systems are integrated into one operation and will be known as the Tartan public water system, named for the golf course on which the community is built.
Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc. acquired the Lakeside Acres Water Company in western Pennsylvania, which serves approximately 525 people living in the Lakeside Acres community in Sadsbury Township, Crawford County for $225,000.
Aqua America Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Nicholas DeBenedictis. said that the Lakeside Acres acquisition will also yield economies of scale as it already shares a pipe interconnect with Aqua Pennsylvania’s nearby Oakland Beach water system, which was acquired in December 2005 and is also operated out of the company’s Shenango Division.
Aqua Pennsylvania plans to invest nearly $80,000 over the next several years to improve the Lakeside Acres water system. The upgrades include process control improvements and new monitoring systems, as well as the installation of a radio frequency-equipped water meter reading system.
Aqua Illinois, Inc. acquired the water system assets of the Village of Sun River Terrace, which serves approximately 600 people in the Village. In addition to the purchase price of $95,000, Aqua Illinois has plans to invest nearly $210,000 in capital improvements over the next five years including improvements to the water tower, the replacement of pipes and fire hydrants, and the installation of new water meters. “Sun Terrace represents another ‘tuck-in’ acquisition as it’s near our Kankakee operations.
Sun Terrace is the second municipal acquisition for Aqua Illinois this year,” said DeBenedictis. Aqua Illinois acquired the Village of Manteno water system, also in the Kankakee area.
Contact:? Aqua America, Inc.?Donna Alston?Director, Communications?610-645-1095?dpalston@aquaamerica.com ?or?Terry Maenza?Senior Communications Specialist?610-645-1175?tmmaenza@aquaamerica.com