Morganton, Drexel, Valdese water interconnection project partly funded, but not enough to move forward

Drexel and Morganton are set to receive a combined $15.1 million from the state to build connections to Valdese’s water supply.

But there’s a problem: Valdese wasn’t awarded funds to build vital infrastructure for the interconnection project.

Without that funding, the project can’t move forward.

“Without the Valdese elevated tank, we can’t connect to them, because … you can’t push the water between the two systems,” said Morganton City Manager Sally Sandy. “Hydraulically, it will not work.”

Valdese Assistant Town Manager Bo Weichel said, while the town never completely closes the book on a potential project, the interconnection project will not move forward without significant investment from the state.

“If the state is truly committed to building resiliency across the region, additional appropriations would be needed to make Valdese’s participation feasible,” Weichel said. “Until then, there aren’t immediate next steps on our end, though we remain open should opportunities for future funding arise.”

Gov. Josh Stein’s office announced earlier last week that five counties in western North Carolina will receive more than $86 million for 14 drinking water and wastewater infrastructure projects, which includes the money allocated for Morganton and Drexel.

The funding is part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program for states affected by disaster.

“Too many people lost access to water when Hurricane Helene struck, and in some places, it took months to be able to guarantee potable water,” Stein said in the news release. “These grants will help towns across western North Carolina strengthen their water infrastructure so that it can better withstand future storms.”

Sandy said the benefit of the interconnection project for Morganton residents would be in situations when water service is interrupted. If the interconnection is built, Morganton, Drexel, and Valdese will be able to help one another in times of need.

However, not only did Valdese not receive funding, but Morganton was only awarded $10 million of its $12 million request, Sandy said, at a time when scraping up an additional $2 million would be challenging.

Even if Morganton could get $2 million from another pot of money, “I think it would be extremely irresponsible to spend $12 million on basically a pipe to nowhere, especially at a time when we have so many needs,” Sandy said.

Sandy said the city has not yet received documentation to accept the money from the state. The next steps will depend on whether Morganton and Valdese can secure the funding needed.