THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 18, 1995 TAG: 9502180410
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
County officials' hopes for finding more usable water on the Outer Banks will not be realized, an engineer told county commissioners Friday.
Presenting a report from a test drilling ordered last fall north of the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge, Linwood Stroud said the water was too salty and contained too many unwanted chemicals to be a realistic source.
The failure of the drilling into the Yorktown Aquifer exhausts Currituck's potential water sources on the Outer Banks, Stroud said.
``There's a very limited volume of the supply in there, and it's very salty,'' Stroud said. ``Basically, we don't feel like it's worth pursuing that any further.''
That leaves commissioners, who spent several hours Friday discussing the county's water troubles, with a few other potential sources for supplying water to the Outer Banks and the mainland.
One of those possible sources, mentioned as an alternative even as the test drilling was ordered, is the use of Currituck Sound water. Some commissioners on Friday also asked that engineers take a closer look at the North River as a possible source.
Commissioners also were told Friday that expanding the county's mainland water system from Grandy, south to Point Harbor, could cost as much as $8 million, which officials said might be too expensive.
Many board members said the county has to work out a long-term solution soon that will accommodate all areas of the county, which has been divided among Outer Banks and mainland residents on who should be given priority.
The county needs to ``see where we can get water that will serve the Outer Banks, mainland, north and south, once and for all,'' Commissioner Eldon Miller said.
Board members chose to digest the information over a few weeks and said they would discuss the issue more later.
The water discussions were part of a daylong ``retreat'' that addressed a number of issues facing the county. The board met with staff members at the county's Social Services building and plans to meet again this morning.
Among the issues discussed was a package of proposed growth-control amendments to a county development ordinance. Commissioners tentatively decided to stick with a controversial decision to require a minimum of three acres for new lots, but they asked the staff to look into exemptions for property owners who want to pass smaller parcels on to immediate family members.
Commissioners will formally address several growth and development issues in a meeting Monday night. by CNB