ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290042
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
``WATER is our future,'' says Jay Williams, a longtime member of the Giles County Board of Supervisors. The same point is often made about children, but the assertions aren't mutually exclusive. Both in fact are true.
Water is also the past. In the case of Giles, the county and its five towns have long endured an inadequate water supply. Fortunately, a better prospect is now in sight - the result of an effort involving more jurisdictions perhaps than any water project before undertaken in Virginia.
Leaders in the county and the five towns who labored for seven years to make it a reality deserve Giles residents' gratitude.
The wonder, considering political sensitivities involved when six governing bodies must reach agreement, is that it took only seven years. In Virginia, regional projects involving fewer jurisdictions often take longer.
How long, indeed, must the Roanoke Valley take to get its water act together, or to cooperate with the New River Valley? (Blacksburg in an emergency, for instance, could use Spring Hollow Reservoir water if an agreement allowed it.)
The Giles agreement will put the county's Public Service Authority in charge of much of the water in the county, delivering it where it's needed via a new water plant and some 18 miles of distribution line. The PSA operation will replace a fragmented water system that includes the independent supplies of the five towns along the U.S. 460 corridor: Glen Lyn, Rich Creek, Narrows, Pearisburg and Pembroke.
These town systems have been plagued with problems, including leaky, antiquated pipes and water quality not sanctioned by the State Health Department. At least a couple of industries that rely heavily on water have paid higher-than-usual fire-insurance premiums because of the inadequate water supply, and new industries and jobs could not be lured in.
Much of the funding for the $7 million water project has come from federal sources. The impetus for action, though, came from a sense of crisis - a collective recognition that 16,000 residents and potential newcomers need a reliable water system.
Action also was prompted by nature: Water flows according to resistance and gravity, not political borders. The PSA agreement is a reminder of the growing importance of regional cooperation in Western Virginia, as well as of water.
LENGTH: Short : 47 linesby CNB