Catawba River - Controversy

Controversy

In 2006 the river became the center of a water use controversy between the residents of the Catawba watershed and Cabarrus County, North Carolina. The cities of Concord and Kannapolis are expecting a daily shortfall of 22 million US gallons (83,000 m3) of water a day by 2035 and want to pump up to 36 million US gallons (140,000 m3) of water daily from the Catawba. The Concord/Kannapolis Interbasin Transfer (IBT) proposal calls for water to be permanently transferred from one river basin to another river basin. Such a transfer is unlike the more common water usage, in which municipalities within the Catawba basin pump water from the river and treat it for residential use. Much of that treated water eventually returns to the Catawba River.

Though neither Concord nor Kannapolis are located in the Catawba River basin (both are located in the Pee Dee River basin), the cities said the Catawba River is a regional resource. Opponents of the IBT argued that towns and cities along the Catawba River basin are growing as well, and that the cities' request is too large.

On January 10, 2007, the North Carolina state environmental panel authorized Concord and Kannapolis to pump up to 10 million US gallons (38,000 m3) a day from the Catawba River. This decision represented a compromise recommended by hearing officers for the Environmental Management Commission. The mayors of Morganton and Valdese stated they were adamantly against the transfer and that the panel's ruling was skewed and biased. Concord's city manager stated the approval of the water transfer was "bittersweet", since the panel authorized an amount much lower than was originally requested and is likely to be delayed by lawsuits. “Well, (officials from) Hickory are going to file an appeal,” said Concord Mayor Scott Padgett, who spoke briefly with Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright after the EMC meeting. “His major concern is changing the (interbasin transfer) process. My appeal to him is that there should be a truce. To file an appeal is just going to prolong something we deserve, is less than what we asked for and is going to further hard feelings this has already created.”

The controversy ended in early 2010 when all the parties reached a settlement that further limits the amount of water available to Concord and Kannapolis under drought conditions.