THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 5, 1994 TAG: 9410050422
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Scientists believe one of Currituck County's long-term water sources may lay beneath land north of a federal wildlife refuge, and plans have been made to dig test wells.
But even if the drilling proves successful, piping the water to thirsty Outer Banks residents may not be so easy.
``A whole lot of that depends upon where a proposed pipeline would be situated,'' Ben Nottingham, assistant manager of the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge, said Tuesday.
County officials already expect opposition.
``It's going to be very difficult to get easements through federal properties,'' County Manager Bill Richardson told the Board of Commissioners during a work session Monday evening.
The commissioners later voted at their regular meeting to look into obtaining an easement or using public beach access to run a transmission line from the wells north of the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge to northern beach developments.
Nottingham said Tuesday that an above-ground line could have a significant impact on sensitive estuaries, wetlands, maritime forest and dunes within parts of the 1,800-acre wildlife refuge.
``All of these habitats would suffer some disturbance from a pipeline installation,'' he said.
A water pipeline also would encourage more homes and vehicular traffic on the northern Outer Banks, he said. ``It's basically going to promote more development that will impact the existing habitat. So secondary impacts are not to be overlooked.''
However, one engineer warned that such speculation may be premature.
``If we do find water up here, this is the source we'd recommend from the standpoint of reliability for the long term,'' consulting engineer Linwood Stroud said Monday. ``However, we aren't sure it's up there.''
If the three 200-foot-deep wells turn up dry or find unusable water, scientists will then turn to the Currituck Sound as an alternate drinking water source, Stroud said.
The sound may also be a possible transmission route if running a pipeline along the wildlife refuge or beach access is not possible.
That underwater project, however, would cost the county about $2 million more than running a line at or near the surface, according to Stroud and hydrogeologist Edwin Andrews.
Mainland residents, who also face a water shortage because of rapid residential growth, may find additional water from digging deeper into well sites at the Maple water treatment plant.
A Currituck water study meeting last month had recommended drilling a deep test well in the Sligo-Snowden area, hoping to tap into an underground stream.
But at Monday's meeting, county officials instead suggested drilling deeper holes at an existing well site.
All of the recommendations come from a task force that originally was formed a couple of years ago to find a new water source for the Outer Banks.
That group suggested, among other options, drilling for water on the southern mainland. That idea was shot down after Lower Currituck residents spoke out against the test wells.
New housing developments in the Grandy and Moyock areas also have taxed the Currituck water system, now nearing capacity.
The water task group has since expanded to include both mainland and island residents. by CNB