THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609110013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 59 lines
Legal problems continue to bedevil the Lake Gaston Pipeline which may eventually bring 60 million gallons of water to Virginia Beach daily from a lake straddling the North Carolina-Virginia border.
Monday's hearing before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia threatened to send the matter back to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission which issued the city a permit for the pipeline last year.
Bickering between North Carolina and Virginia, and between Virginia Beach and Norfolk and between the Beach and environmentalists in the Roanoke River Basin are further bogging down the project which has been on the drawing board for more than a decade.
The latest delay highlights the risk involved in laying a pipeline without first resolving impediments to its construction. It may have been a gamble worth taking, even with a price tag of $3 million to $4 million a month, but it was a gamble.
Virginia Beach officials need to put as much energy into forming strong regional alliances to fight for Gaston's water - or an alternative - as it has into building the pipeline itself.
Until its thirst is quenched, Virginia Beach - and all of Hampton Roads - will continue to develop sluggishly and miss countless opportunities for investment. Lack of reliable water is commonly cited as a reason why businesses pass the region by.
North Carolina's arguments against the pipeline are legion. Foremost is a contention that Hampton Roads already has sufficient water. A Norfolk study can be interpreted to support this view, but the argument is unpersuasive if future growth is expected.
Still, North Carolina has identified the weak link in the Virginia Beach case for Lake Gaston water: By going it alone, Virginia Beach makes a less-convincing argument for the water than it could if it stood shoulder to shoulder with its neighbors in Hampton Roads.
Norfolk has long regarded its access to water as an asset to capitalize on. Virginia Beach has promised regional cooperation on water once it gets a steady stream from Gaston. Both views are shortsighted.
The water question is bigger than parochial interests. Without an assured common supply of water, all cities in the region will suffer - including Chesapeake and Suffolk which anticipate huge growth spurts in the coming years.
It would be wise for representatives of Hampton Roads to approach their counterparts in Northeastern North Carolina who have similar water worries and include them as partners in the pipeline deal. A superregional approach to Lake Gaston would eliminate many of North Carolina's objections.
Internecine squabbling has done much to slow the approval process for this pipeline. Hampton Roads ought to view Lake Gaston as much more than just a pipeline. It is a lifeline that will enable all of Hampton Roads to flourish in the future.
And should the unthinkable happen, the loss of access to Gaston water, regional cooperation will be even more important. The choice the region faces is cooperation and prosperity or contention and stagnation. It's time to choose. by CNB