Here's My Point: Just Let it Go

By Ron Fitzwater

There is a situation that has been discussed locally for more than a year now, and after listening to everything that has been said I am left with only one opinion on the matter and one piece of advice for those in opposition to it.

The matter in question? The proposed Town of Boone, New River water intake station near Todd.

The opinion? You can't stop it.

The advice? Let it go.

Back when I first heard about the intake plant plans (from Larry Wohlers during a Planning Board meeting), I found myself with the same concern that most people seemed to have: What is it going to do to the river down stream? When I heard that Boone was going to take four million gallons of water out of the river each day, I was freaked out. Basically, because I'm not a hydrologist, I thought that was a lot of water. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to canoe or fish (selfish, I know), and I was concerned the impact it would have on Ashe businesses that depend on the river. It sounded scary and unfair.

But unlike a lot of the folks I talk to, the one thing that I have thought all this time, is that even if all the fears are true, and most do not seem to be, there isn't anything Ashe County can do about it anyway.

I see and hear the frustration that the issue is causing in the people who feel that they are being basically robbed of a resource and the county officials who are caught between the people of Ashe and the government of Boone.

The point that keeps being overlooked, and sometimes intentionally ignored, is that Boone has the right to take whatever water they want from the river that is within their borders, just as Ashe County and every county and town down stream from Ashe County, all the way up to West Virginia, has the right to draw from the river.
Now that is not saying that it is not a case of un-neighborly conduct to just do it without any consideration for what it will do to your neighbors, but that isn't illegal as far as I know, so again there is no point in arguing it: You just make yourself tired.

What if we decided that we needed another water intake for the Ashe residents? If it were shown to be a real need then the county commissioners would decide to put an intake plant in to take care of the needs of their people. What then about the folks in Alleghany County? I'm sure they wouldn't like it one bit. They would probably say that we are going to destroy their river businesses just as the folks of Todd are saying now about the Boone plant. But we would just be taking care of our own, just like Boone is.

The only other concern that has been put forth is the fact that there will be an increased amount of pharmaceuticals going into the water. Unfortunately that is true, but only because there isn't any technology in existence that will remove them. Every water treatment facility-in the world-that returns treated wastewater back into tributaries does so with pharmaceuticals still present. Until we humans stop using the bathroom or some smart person designs a way to remove pharmaceuticals from waste water, that won't change. Just like the fact that Boone is going to build intakes when and where they need within their borders.

So I hope my friends in Todd will be able to make the best of the situation. There is an awful lot that they have to offer from the Elkland Arts Center to RiverGirl Fishing Company, the Todd General Store and the traditional mountain music scene and annual visits from icons like Doc Watson just to name a few.

Todd has survived for a long time and the folks there will survive this, and much better than they think they will right now.