Mooresville asking for more Catawba water

Charlotte wants more water from the Catawba. Now, Mooresville wants a sip, too.

And although a coalition of counties and municipalities — including Burke and the City of Morganton — along the upper portion of the Catawba River Basin vehemently opposes Charlotte’s request, Mooresville’s may be a different story.

Anthony Starr, executive director of the Western Piedmont Council of Governments, who is coordinating the opposition effort, said Mooresville has asked the state if it can increase the amount of water it’s allowed to take from 9.54 million gallons per day (MGD) to 12.6 MGD.

“We’re not supporting that IBT increase,” Starr said. “We’re not yet opposing it, either. We’re just assessing the information of that particular request that came in just the last few months.”

While Charlotte Water has made the increase its primary focus — seemingly to the exclusion of other options — to support its projected growth over the next decade, Starr said Mooresville has shown a willingness to consider alternatives.

He also said Mooresville, which made its request last September, has been more transparent than Charlotte.

“Mooresville has been very proactive, and, frankly, has provided more information than Charlotte has on their request up front, and their communication has been good,” Starr told the Burke Board of Commissioners Monday at its monthly meeting.

“Their situation is a little bit different. It’s a much smaller area obviously, and we’re talking about a much smaller amount of water.”

The water is transferred between river basins via an interbasin transfer agreement (IBT). Charlotte wants to double its pull from 33 MGD to 66 MGD. Water from the Catawba Basin is released into the Rocky River/Yadkin Basin after treatment.

Starr explained Mooresville’s request arose because the city needs to expand capacity at its wastewater treatment plant.

In addition to an IBT increase, the city is also considering pumping some or all of the water back into the Catawba instead of the Rocky River; or sending some of its wastewater to Charlotte and paying for treatment. That water would then be returned to the Catawba.