1) Newport News Waterworks wants to build a 2000 acre reservoir on Cohoke Creek and fill it with water pumped from the Mattaponi River. Their application (if permitted) would allow for the withdrawal of up to 75 million gallons per day from the Mattaponi.
2) The Norfolk District of the Corps denied the permit on the basis of environmental impacts (over 500 acres of wetland to be flooded), cultural impacts to the Mattaponi Indians and the fact that independent studies demonstrated that Newport News didn't need half the water they say they needed. Their ROD (record of decision) was based upon numerous years of research and analysis, using many of their staff, and backed by over 300 pages of their own documentation.
3) Then Governor Gilmore was not happy with the decision and had it "elevated" to the Corps' North Atlantic Division out of New York. After nearly two years, the North Atlantic Division came out against the Norfolk District's recommendation, using no new data and backing their decision with a mere 15 page document.
4) One of the conditions of the North Atlantic Division's permit issuance was getting all necessary State permits, including appropriate state permits from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
5) In 2007, the Virginia Water Protection permit issued to Newport News for the King William Reservoir was due to expire. Newport News sought and received up to a 5 year extension to continue under the old permit. One important stipulation of this extension, however, was that no construction on the reservoir could begin until after a full environmental review of the project by the Department of Environmental Quality and the successful reissue of their permit by the State Water Control Board (SWCB).
6) Despite a strong warning by the former Chairman of the SWCB to do otherwise, Newport News has proceeded "full steam" ahead to acquire the land for the reservoir through eminent domain takings. Per the original contract with King William, it was actually the County who was to purchase and own the land, with Newport News Waterworks leasing the land back for the operation of the reservoir over the next 50 years.
7) In November 2007, the King William County Board of Supervisors prudently voted not to continue land acquisition until such time as Newport News Waterworks had all necessary permits in hand (namely the 2012 SWCB permit renewal). After threat of lawsuit by the Waterworks, the County arranged a “back room” deal (out of view of their citizens and without their input) by which Newport News would finance the acquisition of the land for the County (interest free), with an agreement to buy the land back from the County should the project go belly up. It would appear that the Waterworks’ strategy is to invest itself as much as possible in the project as it possibly can (and at any cost) in order to make it nearly impossible for the SWCB to deny the reissue of a permit in 2012.
Most recent developments …
On August 7, 2008, the Alliance to Save the Mattaponi and the Sierra Club released two reports that show Newport News water sales have not only been flat over the past 17 years, but have actually decreased in recent years. One of the reports, written by Don Phillips (a retired NASA engineer), reassesses the original projections made by Newport News and its consultants, pointing out the numerous deficiencies in their analysis and projecting a significantly smaller water need in 2040. A PDF of Phillips’ report can be downloaded from the following link …
An Analysis of Probable Future Water Demand on the Virginia Lower Peninsula (8/3/08)
On August 12th, Newport News City Council will be voting on whether to secure a $20 million dollar bond to help fund the eminent domain land takings (within the proposed reservoir footprint) on behalf of King William County.
What you can do (from Kelly Place, Alliance to Save the Mattaponi) …
We urgently need you to be very active on the internet during these next crucial days.
As you may know we just released two new reports that show clearly that the King William Reservoir is not needed and that the numbers supporting the project were dramatically exaggerated and have not come to pass and will not in the future. The reports have been in all the regional papers and online forums.
We really need you to go to our website as soon and as often as you can and click on the new links to some of the new articles and blogs.
The Links to the New Reports are at the top of the page just above the important Press Release. Please read them. Then send letters to the editor of all the regional papers. The more the better.
Please comment on those articles in the space or link provided at the bottom of the articles. Please flood the brand new Daily Press environmental blog with commentary. KWR is the very first post.
Daily Press @Bay Blog
This is all leading up to Tuesday, Aug 12th when a number of us are going to Newport News City Council to challenge the wisdom of borrowing another $20 million to prematurely condemn King William County Citizens' land. We could really use your help in NN whether you want to speak or not. We need you to be there.
If you can't come, please support us on the internet as described above. Go to our webpage often and email me if you would like to link your webpage to ours. The more the better.
Alliance to Save the Mattaponi
