GroundwaterVirginia
Opinion Archive
- The Virginia Coastal Plain needs a comprehensive
water supply plan--Now!
The recent federal court decision that invalidated the Army Corps of
Engineers permit for the 1,500-acre King William reservoir is the
latest example of the poor state of water-supply planning and
management within the Virginia Coastal Plain (see: www.bayjournal.
com). U. S. District Court Judge Henry Kennedy, Jr. agreed with a
coalition of environmentalists and Native Americans who charged
that the reservoir would harm wetlands and other aquatic resources
and inundate numerous archaeological sites. Regardless of the
merits of the project or the objections to it, the decision has left
unanswered the question: Where is the Lower Peninsula going to
get the 26 million gallons of water each day that the reservoir would
have supplied if it had been constructed?
Today, the Hampton Roads region uses 90 million gallons of water
per day; approximately 20 mgd are withdrawn from groundwater.
Although estimates of future water use come with considerable
uncertainty, we can be sure that water use will continue to grow at a
steady rate. Additionally, many freshwater sources in the vicinity are
already "maxed out," requiring officials to shift their sights to other
water sources. The easy target is the vast supply of groundwater
that underlies the Virginia Coastal Plain.
Unfortunately, this resource is already showing signs of stress.
Artesian water levels exhibit a persistent and long-term decline and
are approaching critical levels at some localities. Deep cones of
depression have developed at centers of large-scale groundwater
withdrawals. It's not unrealistic to state that at some time within the
next few decades the groundwater supply, too, might be "maxed
out."
Now is the time to abandon a "one source fits all" approach and
develop a water-supply plan for the Virginia Coastal Plain centered
on a truly diversified system of water sources. If the water needs of
the Virginia Coastal Plain are to be met in a manner that conserves
the region's resources, then the future water supply of the Virginia
Coastal Plain will have to consist of many sources, including
surface water, groundwater, desalination, water reuse and others,
and must feature effective water conservation.
I'm sure that the opponents of the King William reservoir are flush
with their victory, but I would feel better if they would now turn their
efforts to supporting a diversified water-supply program that
features the safe development of many types of water sources
integrated into an efficient and economical system.
Frank W. Fletcher
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Virginia GWMA based on political ideology rather than science? November 4, 2009 |
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| By several measures, the artesian groundwater system of the region of the Virginia Coastal Plain known as the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula is headed for trouble, and the failure to address the causes of the problem will lead to a crisis of supply within the coming decades. In order to protect the groundwater supply for future generations of Virginians, the State Water Control Board is currently considering a proposal to extend groundwater management across all of the Coastal Plain of the Commonwealth. Because life itself depends on water and no commercial or industrial activity can exist without it, one would think that ensuring an adequate water supply would be a no-brainer; but grumbling can be heard already from some quarters. Those parties who oppose groundwater management of the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula solely on ideological grounds, such as rigid hostility to any kind of government regulation or promotion of economic development at all cost, must face the fact that defeating the groundwater management regulation would not halt the deterioration of the groundwater supply and prevent future supply crises. Although trends are not necessarily destiny, the evidence points to the conclusion that the available groundwater supply is already overdrawn and that the problem will get worse in the next few decades. Based on historical trends, chiefly the period between 1985 and 2005, the population of the region is growing at a rate of 1.2 percent per year. In the past twenty years or so, almost 40,000 persons were added to the regional population, an amount equal to the combined populations of the counties of King George, Lancaster, and Northumberland. In the same time period, groundwater withdrawals rose by nearly 4 million gallons per day (1,460 million gallons per year), increasing from a total of about 11 mgd to nearly 16 mgd. As a direct result of the growth in population and groundwater withdrawals, regional artesian water levels have been declining steadily and persistently, at rates of between 1.0 and nearly 3.0 feet per year. Throughout much of the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula, artesian water levels now stand at 35 to 80 feet below sea level and reach more than 200 feet below sea level in the vicinity of West Point (King William County). At the western edge of the region, in the vicinity of the Fall Zone (I-95 corridor), artesian water levels have reached or are approaching what the scientists of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality term "critical levels." Recognizing the threat to the Virginia's valuable groundwater resources, the State Water Control Board in 1992 established two groundwater management areas, one on the Eastern Shore and another covering the James-York Peninsula and Southside Virginia. Now, the Board is proposing an extension of the Eastern Virginia Ground Water Management Area to the portion of the Coastal Plain aquifer system that underlies the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula. As the discussions of the proposed regulatory amendment proceed, both regulators and citizens alike must keep in mind that the ground rules that govern the structure and functioning of the aquifer system and therefore the available groundwater supply are defined by the laws of hydraulics and not by political ideology. Frank W. Fletcher |