MARCH 18, 2010 ISSUE
USDA Requires Additional Studies for Boone Raw Water Intake
Following the reception of public comments by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development office on an environmental assessment for Boone’s proposed raw water intake on the New River, the department has required the Town of Boone to conduct additional evaluation at the site.
The town’s engineering firm for the project, W.J. Dickson & Company, must perform an additional bathymetric survey at the proposed site. A bathymetric survey measures the depth of the water and determines the shape of the riverbed. In addition, the engineer is required to identify an appropriate site for relocating a spike mussel population prior to construction. The spike mussel is designated as a species of special concern in North Carolina.
The Boone Town Council approved a $23,705 appropriation from the Water and Sewer Fund to W.K. Dickson’s contract for conducting the additional work required at its meeting March 16.
The environmental assessment and public comment period were required as part of the town’s application to the USDA for a loan to finance the raw water intake project.
“I think it’s reasonable that we do it,” said Town Manager Greg Young. “We really don't have any other choice.”
The facility would draw 4 million gallons per day (mgd) from the South Fork of the New River at a site located in the Brownwood area of Watauga County, close to Todd and the border with Ashe County.
Boone’s wastewater treatment plant discharges treated wastewater back into the New River about 23 river miles upstream of the proposed intake site. The town already has one water intake site located on the New River. Boone officials say the town needs more water because a 2004 study found that Boone is rapidly approaching capacity from existing water sources. In November 2008, Boone voters approved a $25 million bond referendum for a new water source along the South Fork of the New River.
The initial environmental assessment for the project conducted by W.K. Dickson stated that it anticipates no impacts to federally protected species, historically significant resources or the viewshed in the Brownwood area nor any permanent negative impacts to aesthetics, recreation or stream flow.
According to a memo to the town from W.K. Dickson, the N.C. Division of Water Resources (DWR) expressed “concern that discharge data obtained near the proposed intake site was collected above the threshold flow suggested by DWR for the U.S. Geological Survey gage.”
The engineering firm plans to conduct the additional bathymetric survey at a riffle about 1,400 feet downstream from the proposed intake site that is associated with a higher gradient and wider channel width—which “would provide a more informative visualization of a worse-case scenario,” the memo said.
Public Utilities Director Rick Miller told the council that a spike mussel colony had been identified near the site of the proposed intake. W.K. Dickson will develop a plan for relocating the colony to a different site on the New River and update the environmental assessment to include the plan. The relocation effort is expected to cost an additional $10,000 to $15,000.
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