DATE: Tuesday, May 13, 1997                 TAG: 9705130009

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   48 lines

GASTON PIPELINE THE COURT SPEAKS AS COLD WATERS TO A THIRSTY SOUL, SO IS GOOD NEWS FROM A FAR COUNTRY

Virginia Beach has pursued a long and wearying road in its quest for water to slake its thirst. Now, with a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the end of the road may finally be in sight and the thirst about to be quenched.

It is a victory sweet enough to taste. A three-judge panel of the court upheld the decision of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that approved the building of a pipeline from Lake Gaston to supply Hampton Roads with water. It ruled against an ill-founded appeal by North Carolina.

On the merits, the decision should have been a foregone conclusion, but until courts hand down their decisions anything is possible.

Still, the North Carolina argument was singularly unpersuasive. It tried to maintain that taking water from a lake is tantamount to adding pollutants to it. In a 2-1 ruling, the judges, reasonably enough, rejected that bizarre line of reasoning.

Now that the ruling has gone in favor of Virginia Beach, there's reason to hope that the 94 percent-completed pipeline really will begin supplying water to Hampton Roads by the end of the year. If so, 1998 will be the happiest of new years.

The stakes are enormous. The lack of an adequate and reliable supply of water has set neighbor against neighbor, divided the region, stunted its growth and cramped its economic prospects.

A resolution to the problem ought to permit a new era for Hampton Roads of greater cooperation, expanded opportunities and increased prosperity. If - and it's a big if - old antagonisms can be laid to rest and a new spirit of optimism and cooperation adopted.

Unfortunately, North Carolina may continue to contest Hampton Roads' quest for water. It is expected to ask the full court to review the decision. And a scheduled relicensing of the hydroelectric plant that created Lake Gaston in 2001 will provide another pretext for North Carolina's obstructionism.

That would be both a misfortune and a mistake. In fact, Eastern North Carolina has always had almost as much to gain from a reliable supply of water as Hampton Roads. And if Carolina had chosen to make common cause instead of cross swords, both states would have benefited years ago.

Now, however, is not the time for regrets, recriminations or pessimistic predictions. With a little luck, Lake Gaston water will be flowing in less than eight months. For our region, it promises to be aqua vitae - the water of life whose magical powers will prove restorative and permit a new beginning.

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