Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

Banner Elk Seeks New Water Sources

Story by Ron Fitzwater

Future growth for the town of Banner Elk depends on locating sites for new wells, and town officials are acting proactively to address future needs.

“We have invested $50,000 in an information system to apply new technology to the well system, to track water usage versus the supply,” said Town Manager Hugh Montgomery. Currently, town wells provide a safe yield of about 300,000 gallons per day. Montgomery said that if all wells are online, the town easily meets the demand. However, on March 19, when High Country Press spoke with Montgomery, the well that provides 40 percent of the town’s water capacity was offline, awaiting installation of a new pump. This particular situation, according to Montgomery, was manageable, “but if something else happens in the system, such as a power failure, and you lose all but one well, the town can’t meet current demands.”

The current issues are locating well sites that meet safety/health standards and local construction/development regulations, and keep the cost of construction manageable.

When a possible well site is located Montgomery said, it must be assessed to see if it meets the cost-ratio to determine if the well would produce enough volume to justify the cost of placing it into production.

Well sites require a 100-foot radius or two-thirds of an acre. “Where am I going to find two-thirds of an acre, close to three-phase power, close to our current distribution system, with no infringement from a creek, septic tank, road or a property line?” Montgomery asked. “It is harder to find every day,” he added.

One possible site that fits the criteria is the future site of the new Banner Elk Elementary School that will be built on 11 acres behind the Best Western Hotel. “When we looked at that location,” Montgomery said, “there were positives. It is owned by a public entity already so there’s infrastructure there, it’s close to three-phase power and it will be close to the distribution system—because the school will need water—and it will have reasonable access. This site just lucked out.” Addressing potential concerns for children’s safety, Montgomery said, “The treatment plants on wells are self-contained in small buildings. There will be no gas chlorine; it will be all liquid chlorine, like bleach. We add a caustic acid, but it is contained in tanks, so in terms of exposure, it is not a very great one. There would be greater hazards with a convenience store,” Montgomery added.

“Aside from the people, the most important asset a community has is its water resources. You have to protect it and nurture it, whether it is surface water running by your house or ground water that we pump to drink. There are places in North Carolina that don’t have enough water resources and their growth has stopped. You can decide for your community to grow or not, but the trigger is water and sewer. Without water, you’re done.”

Banner Elk is working in conjunction with the Rural Water Association to locate and assess suitable well sites.