
DATE: Saturday, November 8, 1997            TAG: 9711080343

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB AND JOHN MURPHY, STAFF WRITERS 

DATELINE: WINDSOR                           LENGTH:  114 lines

HIGH ON LONG-AWAITED WATER, LOCAL LEADERS REJOICELAKE GASTON'S PRECIOUS RESOURCE, MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF IT, WAS WILDLY GREETED FRIDAY BY VIRGINIA BEACH OFFICIALS AND OTHERS WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM IT.

Water came from the heavens in torrents. It muddied the ground, dampened shoes and threatened spirits.

It dripped through tent holes onto the heads of city leaders.

Finally, it sprayed up from underfoot as nearly giddy officials gathered to watch Lake Gaston water make its ceremonial arrival into Hampton Roads.

The Lake Gaston pipeline has been effectively complete for weeks now, pumping millions of gallons of water on a 76-mile journey from the North Carolina border.

But Friday was a day of celebration for ``an achievement of human mind and human heart,'' as Virginia Beach Chief of Staff C. Oral Lambert Jr. put it.

The pipeline, which has taken more than 15 years to build and remains under a legal cloud, brings the Beach its first independent water supply in its 35-year history.

It was somehow fitting that this symbolic moment was almost drowned out.

``For 15 years, I've been praying for this, and I just want to tell you all, the Lord does listen,'' Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf said.

And the rain stopped.

A few minutes later, Oberndorf lifted a half-liter bottle of purified Lake Gaston water and offered a toast, just as 30 million gallons a day began cascading down a giant set of concrete steps behind her.

``(Let's) toast to all of our citizens who have waited so long for this to happen,'' she said, surrounded by current and past Virginia Beach and Chesapeake officials.

``Not bad,'' she said, after taking a sip.

It wasn't just Virginia Beach's ceremony Friday. Officials from Brunswick County, where the pipeline enters the ground, and Isle of Wight, where the pipeline ends; Chesapeake; Suffolk, and Norfolk attended the festivities. The pipeline's $150 million price tag includes $3 million each for Brunswick, Isle of Wight and Suffolk. Those communities allowed construction of the pipeline and a pump station needed to transport the water into Norfolk, where it will be treated.

``It takes sister cities working together to make things happen,'' Chesapeake Vice Mayor John W. Butt said. Chesapeake is a one-sixth partner in the pipeline, entitled to draw up to 10 million gallons of water per day.

``We are a partnership or we are nothing,'' said Clarence O. Warnstaff, Virginia Beach director of public utilities, quoting President Woodrow Wilson.

U.S. Rep. Owen B. Pickett, D-2nd District, was tied up tackling Fast Track legislation in the House Friday, but sent his chief of staff with a statement conveying his ``deep regrets.''

``Today, we can forget about the bungling process of government. . .We can forget the intransigence of our neighbors to the south. . .We can forget about the embarrassments and irritations,'' Pickett wrote. ``We can respect and admire the vision, tenacity and dogged determination. . .We can celebrate another milestone in the city of Virginia Beach.

``Have a glass of water on me.''

The event was a time to savor and guzzle, to reflect and look forward.

Former Virginia Beach City Manager Aubrey Watts got tears in his eyes when he watched, heard and felt the spray from the rushing Lake Gaston water. Watts was director of public utilities when the project was conceived nearly 20 years ago.

Others, sipping from plastic bottles, looked forward to the celebration they planned later in the day when, they said, the clear liquid they were drinking would have more of a bite.

``(City Manager) Jim Spore forgot the scotch to put in the water,'' Vice Mayor William D. Sessoms Jr. said. ``This is better than New Year's Eve.''

City Council member Louis R. Jones, who was mayor when the council decided in 1982 to build the Lake Gaston pipeline, spent most of his 20-minute speech Friday thanking those who had played a role in the battle to build the pipeline.

There were his fellow council members: ``We have a great team on City Council, and we played the game well.''

Mayor Oberndorf: ``A great quarterback.''

Council member John A. Baum: ``A wonderful person and a true friend.''

Project Manager Thomas M. Leahy III: Virginia Beach's ``secret weapon.''

And, the state and federal officials who helped fight opposition in North Carolina and Southside Virginia: ``All of us are grateful.''

``After 15 years, our eyesight may be getting a little dim, but our vision is as clear as ever,'' Jones said. ``For the first time in 20 years, South Hampton Roads is no longer a water-short region.''

It certainly wasn't short Friday afternoon in a clearing near downtown Windsor.

More than 250 officials gathered under the giant tent, shivering at the rain and warming themselves with Brunswick stew and pork barbecue - North Carolina style.

And to wash it all down: half-liter souvenir bottles of Lake Gaston water. Malcolm Pirnie, the engineering firm that spent 11 years and earned millions designing the project, spent $4,000 purifying enough water to fill 2,500 bottles.

Guests also left with commemorative squares of ductile iron, the material used to construct the pipeline, insulated lunch bags and samples of the metal and rubber joints connecting the 20,000 pieces of pipe that now link Lake Gaston to sinks, toilets and garden hoses across Virginia Beach.

Most didn't need paperweights or full stomachs to enjoy the moment.

``It was a great feeling,'' said council member Baum.

``My feet aren't going to touch ground today,'' said Beach City Attorney Leslie L. Lilley, wearing a blue suit and duck shoes. MEMO: [For a related story, see page A14 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT for this

date.] ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

MOTOYA NAKAMURA

The Virginian-Pilot

Thomas M. Leahy III, pipeline project manager, and Virginia Beach

Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf hold bottles of the water.

A DROPLET'S JOURNEY TO SANDBRIDGE

GRAPHIC

MICHAEL HALL

The Virginian-Pilot

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.] KEYWORDS: CELEBRATION COMPLETION WATER SUPPLY PLAN TIDEWATER

LAKE GASTON