DATE: Saturday, November 22, 1997           TAG: 9711220383

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 

SOURCE: BY LANE DeGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   50 lines

A THIRSTY CURRITUCK LOOKS TO BUY WATER NORFOLK IS A POSSIBLE SUPPLIER FOR FAST-GROWING COUNTY.

Currituck County has started shopping for water.

County officials expressed an interest in Norfolk's surplus earlier this month. Now they are ready to sit down and talk prices.

Staffs from the northeastern North Carolina county and Hampton Roads cities are scheduled to meet this week, but the talks had to be postponed.

They'll take place ``in the near future,'' Currituck County Board of Commissioners Chairman Paul O'Neal said Friday.

``Norfolk has water to sell. Currituck has water it needs. We're just trying to see if it's feasible for us to buy their water.

``Currituck is interested in buying water from Virginia Beach, Chesapeake or Norfolk. We just haven't talked money yet.''

This fall, water began flowing from Lake Gaston to Virginia Beach. So Norfolk - which uses Virginia Beach's water - now has about 35 million extra gallons of water each day.

``At some point in time, Norfolk will look to other communities to sell its excess water to,'' Norfolk spokesman Charles Hartig said Friday. ``We're open to proposals from any community. Some preliminary phone calls already have been made with Currituck.''

``There's no question Currituck County needs water both on its Outer Banks beaches and for the mainland,'' said Hartig, who formerly served as Currituck County's Economic Development Director and as Dare County's spokesman.

Corolla, a resort community on Currituck's Outer Banks, has been growing so quickly that water supplies are starting to run short. Mainland populations and businesses are also increasing, though O'Neal said there is no immediate need for extra water there.

Dare County commissioners recently signed an agreement with a private water company on Currituck's Outer Banks to provide water in emergencies.

Two years ago, Currituck County officials adopted a plan to build a reverse-osmosis water production plant to provide extra water for the mainland.

``But if we could find water cheaper somewhere else before we begin building our own production plant,'' O'Neal said, ``that's what we're looking for.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

THE PROBLEM: Currituck's Outer Banks and mainland have been growing

so quickly that water supplies are starting to dwindle. TWO

SOLUTIONS: The county could follow through on plans to build a

reverse-osmosis water production plant. Or, water could be bought

from another city with a water surplus, such as Norfolk.

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