News
Local officials, residents ask "Where's the water?"
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
In a recent Star News article, New Hanover County residents and officials raised concerns over wetlands and ponds that have dried up.
The article describes: "A grass-covered crater in a neighbor's yard used to function as a retention pond, but the depression – like the rest of the Porters Neck neighborhood – hasn't seen standing water in more than a year, a problem one resident says started when the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority began using wells in a nearby field to pump water from the Castle Hayne aquifer."
So where has the water gone?
The well feilds operated by CFPUA "contains 25 wells, 15 that pump from the upper Pee Dee aquifer and 10 that draw from the Castle Hayne. All 25 wells have been in operation since 2009, pumping water to a nearby treatment plant that has the capacity to handle up to 6 million gallons per day, though the average flow there currently is closer to 3.25 million gallons each day." CFPUA officials and Commissioner Rick Catlin are looking into the matter because several factors could be contributing to the water losses, including droughts and unknown groundwater withdrawals.
This article should raise concerns for residents in this region, especially since Titan has proposed to withdraw an added 8-16 million gallons of water from the Castle Hayne aquifer. The future of our water resources is a great topic to discuss with candidates in the upcoming election. To find contact info for all the candidates, go here.
