October 27, 2006
HUDSON—For those who think speaking out at a public hearing is probably a waste of time, the multi-county dispute over the transfer of water from the Catawba River has taken an encouraging turn. After two rambunctious public hearings in the last six weeks, in which scores and scores of speakers voiced pointed opposition to an inter-basin transfer (IBT) of water from the Catawba River, the “other shoe” may have dropped Wednesday.
Shortly after the second hearing, in Charlotte, where opponents vastly outnumbered those who favored the IBT for Concord and Kannapolis, officials of the N.C. Environmental Management Commission said they would delay their decision “to allow more time for public comment.”
The real effect of that delay also would have allowed time for the N.C. General Assembly to revisit existing laws on IBTs, probably early next year. But this week, opponents of the transfer of up to 38 million gallons of water per day from the Catawba to the Yadkin-Pee Dee River basin picked up a major ally when Duke Energy told the Environmental Management Commission that it is opposed to the IBT as well.
Caldwell County officials, including those in Granite Falls and Lenoir, have joined a fight led by Hickory and Catawba, Burke and McDowell counties, which have built a proposed legal-action fund already totaling some $2 million.
“This whole episode should encourage our citizens to understand that their involvement in democratic processes like public hearings can, indeed, yield good results,” said Dennis A. Benfield of Hudson, a candidate for Caldwell Soil & Water Conservation District supervisor in the Nov. 7 election.
“First, the overwhelming wave of opposing voices in those two hearings just shocked the other side, which may have thought the IBT was a slam-dunk. Then the announced delay for making the decision—and now Duke Energy’s opposition….”
“All of a sudden,” Benfield added, “what was going to be a rubber-stamp approval for Concord and Kannapolis is now crumbling pretty fast. State officials realize now that thousands and thousands of people in this part of the state want to protect their water from a bureaucratic raid by two larger cities.” “This is, in fact, how democracy is supposed to work. It’s also how ‘politics’ works.”
“State government, plus Concord and Kannapolis are controlled by one political party, while the towns and counties in the Catawba River basin are controlled by the other party. The ruling party in Raleigh made an ‘adjustment’ to stay somewhat in the good graces, so-to-speak, of the other party.”
Duke Energy actually sent a letter to the Environmental Management Commission this week stating the company’s opposition to the IBT plan for two major reasons: (1) the overwhelming public opposition and (2) the “substantial amount of water” involved in the request by Concord and Kannapolis.
Benfield pointed out that “Duke Energy is the E.F. Hutton of the Catawba basin—when they talk, people listen.” The electric company has managed the Catawba River and its system of six North Carolina lakes for almost a century, generating hydroelectric power under a license granted by the state.
For the local governments and citizen groups fighting Concord and Kannapolis over the water transfer, Duke’s timing may be fortuitous.
“It probably occurred to Duke Energy that it would make fewer enemies to go ahead and oppose the IBT—especially since it is in the midst of its relicensing negotiations with the state,” Benfield noted.
Benfield waited 5½ hours on Sept. 7 to speak for two minutes at the Valdese public hearing in opposition of the IBT proposal. He was one of only three speakers from Caldwell County that night, all of whom opposed the transfer. A rural landowner along Big Gunpowder Creek in the Hudson area for 32 years, Benfield was the only one of seven candidates for the Caldwell Soil & Water Conservation board to speak at either of the public hearings on the proposed transfer.
The 57-year-old insurance agent, college instructor and public relations operative has stated many times in his campaign this fall the importance of Catawba River water in the future of economic development in Caldwell County. “We need that water to serve new industry and new homes right here,” he said. “I don’t want to seem calloused to the needs of Concord and Kannapolis, but I really don’t care about the expansion of Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Our people need jobs.”
“Cabarrus County has other options in finding water for its future,” Benfield said. “I’m working hard to see that pursuing those ‘other options’ is exactly what it must do.”
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