Published: October 15, 2009 03:22 pm      

Grant awarded for regional water project

Wyoming County officials accepted a $200,000 Small Cities Block grant Tuesday, from Gov. Joe Manchin, to assist with the costs of a regional water project using R.D. Bailey Lake as the source, with a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art treatment plant.

The project cost is now estimated at $65 million, according to Sen. Richard Browning, D-Wyoming, and could serve more than 12,000 people when operational.

Abandoned Mine Land (AML) monies are expected to fund 53 percent of the project with the remaining 47 percent coming from USDA sources, Browning said.

“We’re trying to keep water bills at $40 or below,” he said, adding that is the average monthly water bill across the state.

The focus of the proposed project is using the lake to provide water to Wyoming County as needed, as well as large portions of McDowell County and portions of Mingo County.

While Hanover area residents will be the first community tied into the regional system, Browning proposes tying other local systems and public service districts (PSD) together. Individual systems can then “buy or borrow water” when they need it, he said.

“This could pick up a lot of unserved areas,” Browning said.

While public/private ventures of this magnitude have been completed in West Virginia, this is the first public project of this scope, Browning explained.

“We may have to create a regional water authority and everyone involved is going to want a seat at the table,” he said.

With a huge customer base, the regional water operation could possibly generate enough revenue to hire an engineer to maintain the system, he emphasized.

“This will benefit so many people,” Browning said. “This is truly government at its best; nobody is making a dime off this project. This is what I love about public service; this is what makes it worthwhile — helping people.”

Officials are also working with government representatives to obtain a waiver so the treatment plant can be built on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers property, near the lake.

R.D. Bailey Lake could provide a reliable source and would be very cost effective, according to officials. Preliminary projections indicate the lake could provide up to 10 million gallons of water a day.

Browning has said the plan isn’t intended to impact any PSD or ongoing water projects, but is intended to provide a primary source — as well as a backup source — for those systems in need of water for any reason.

The town of Oceana’s water source almost completely dried up a couple of years ago, bringing to light the need for a backup source for established water systems. Underground water sources are notoriously unreliable and can also be unhealthy, according to officials, especially with the increase in mining and drilling.

Browning also noted the regional water system may be a “way out” for smaller municipalities with decreasing populations that are forced to subsidize water systems and other utilities. A long term study of the region following the July 8, 2001 flooding projected these smaller municipalities would cease to exist in the coming years due to the population declines and escalating operations costs.