One of the things that was repeatedly mentioned was that the whole of Mineral County is running out of water. One person even stated that we should put a moratorium on development, because we don't have any water to support additional growth. It was also stated that there are only two sources of water used for drinking in the county, Patterson Creek and New Creek.
All of these statements were completely wrong. There were several county officials both elected and appointed in the room. County officials just allowed this incorrect information to go unchecked. There were people that left that meeting believing that Mineral County has run out of water. That is wrong and that is a failure of the county government to properly inform the public. This was the 5th meeting so the county had plenty of time to have the correct information at the meeting.
Keep in mind this was a public input meeting on the development of the new comprehensive plan. The public was then using this incorrect information to make suggestions. Suggestions in many cases based on the fear of running out of water. One of those suggestions based on this incorrect water information was the one requesting a moratorium on new development. Think about that for a minute stop new development in a county that has a major job shortage.
Let's look at the real facts that county officials know:
The statement was made that Mineral County gets all its water from two sources Patterson Creek and New Creek. That statement is incorrect and was not corrected in the meeting. The Real Water Source Facts:
- Keyser & New Creek Water Systems - Source: New Creek
- Piedmont Water System - Source: Savage River in Garrett County, MD
- Fountain & Unfinished Burlington Systems - Source: Wells
- Fort Ashby Water System - Source Patterson Creek
- Carpendale - Source: Well
- Ridgeley, & Wiley Ford - Source: Evetts Creek in Allegany County, MD and Bedford County, PA.
- Elk Garden Water System - Source: Reservoir in Grant County
According to the USGS, the average water usage per person in
According to the USGS the median (average) discharge over a 68 year period is 61 cubic feet per second at Headsville, which is above the Fort Ashby water filtration plant. That works out to 456.28 gallons per second, or 39.4 million gallons a day. So 6.8% of the average flow of Patterson Creek could supply the entire county and it is not asked too nor will it ever be asked to supply the entire county.
Now Mineral County does not use Jennings Randolph Lake as a water supply. According to the US Corp of Engineers, the design of the dam allocates 41,000 acre feet of water storage for water supply. 1 acre foot of water is 325,851.42 gallons. If the Potomac River was to stop flowing today that 41,000 acre feet of water supply is enough to supply Mineral County for the next 13.5 years!!!! Jennings Randolph Lake holds a lot more than 41,000 acre feet. It holds an additional 51,000 acre feet for water quality control. And additional unused 36,200 acre feet are allocated for flood control.
Below the dam at Barnum in 1976 the lowest Potomac River flow was recorded at 142 cubic feet per second. To put that in perspective 10% of the lowest recorded flow could be supply water to a population of just under 100,000 or roughly 4 times the population of Mineral County. 10% of the average flow could supply the daily needs of around a 1/4 million people, and this is all from a source of water we currently do not use!
Is there a water supply problem in the county? No, water is our most abundant resource. There is a problem with the older water systems needing to be upgraded and a distribution problem.
18 miles of piping can connect the current water systems in county together. This would allow transfer of water between systems if needed. If one systems runs low on water or has quality issues, then another system could supply its needs on a temporary basis. In West Virginia the average cost of laying a mile of water pipe is around $200,000. That means the 18 miles of pipe could be laid for around $4 million. To put that in perspective, the sewer project in the north end of the county is a $40 million project. In addition to those 18 miles of pipe about another $4 million in modernization and pipeline upgrades is needed. All is doable and Homeland Security even has money available for connecting systems together to provide water system security.
So why is the public being instilled with false sense of fear that we are running out of water? One of the statements made in the meeting tells the story. When the person said, we should put a moratorium on development, that was the goal of those pushing the myth we are running out of water. There are people in this county that want no economic growth. They do whatever they can to stop businesses from moving into Mineral County and by scaring people by creating the myth we are running out of water is their latest attempt to stop economic development.
Thanks for that clear analysis of the issues, Gary. I'm trying to imagine what politics would motivate just a gross misrepresentation of the facts. Perhaps it's just good old ignorance.
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