Where’s the water?

by Susan Gibbs
Published: May 1, 2008

The County’s Board of Supervisors authorized an engineering firm to begin an approximate $39 million process that will put a major dent in Greene’s water problems - and keep it there for the next 40 or so years—at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, April 22.
The Board has been seeking solutions to the County’s water problems for some time, but Chairman Steve Catalano says he has wanted to keep that search quiet to “avoid real estate speculation.”
WW Associates in Charlottesville is the engineering firm under contract to the County that has been conducting that search. On the April 22, its president, Herbert F. White reported its findings to the Board—and to the public.
The existing Rapidan Service Authority Water Treatment Plant (the Plant) in Ruckersville is currently producing “a safe yield of 1.15 million gallons of water per day,” reported White. But, he added, based on peak daily demand, “We estimate that the Plant will be near capacity by 2009.
Generally speaking, the Plant provides water to users located along the U.S. Routes 29 and 33 corridors, leaving most of the rest of the County dependent on private wells.
And the situation in Ruckersville, along the corridors, White said, “is kind of scary, honestly.”
To provide the entire County with a steady supply of water, White estimated that it would need a new water treatment plant that would provide 3 million gallons per day to meet peak daily demand in the year 2030.

Additional water infrastructure improvements White recommends include: a pumped storage reservoir capable of holding at least 850 million gallons of water; a source water intact and pump station, a raw water transmission line and a finished water transmission line.
“The days of damming a free-flowing stream are over,” White explained. “We have to … dam up a ravine and … pump water into that reservoir.
The process will take five to six years to complete. The sale of water and sewer connections would finance long-term debt.
WW Associates has been performing evaluations and analyses for some time.
It has, through the use of a Rapidan Service Authority study done in 2000, studied 20 potential reservoir sites
All sites were evaluated according to: potential yield; environmental impacts; construction cost; location to the service area; distance from diversion; land acquisition; and, land owner impact.

Of the 20 sties evaluated, White said, two—one near White Run and another near Buckner Run were identified as having the best possibilities for development. A high ranking option was a site Upper Welsh Run.
However, White told the Board, the firm would like to further evaluate those and “identify new potential sites.”
He asked that the Board take steps to move forward with the process also laid out the steps necessary to move forward with the process, culminating in the completion of all water infrastructure improvements. Those steps necessary to completion of the water infrastructure improvements are:
• Conduct a regulatory review and determination of water withdrawal regulations on the Rapidan River
• Enter into an agreement with the Town of Stanardsville to pursue a regional water supply plan
• Prepare the water supply plan
• Select a site for the reservoir
• Conduct an environmental review of the selected site and the raw water intake
• Acquire the property
•• Proceed with a preliminary engineering report that will include likely transmission line routing, water treatment plant location and a final source water pump station location
• Conduct a subsurface exploration to assist with preliminary engineering by exploring the geologic features
• Evaluate available alternatives in financing the capital costs associated with the proposed improvements
• Proceed with the design and construction
• Continue to develop groundwater resources
The Board voted unanimously to proceed with the first three steps.
In addition, as a means to find short-term sources of water, the County is drilling wells and looking for more.
To date, White reported, “Five wells have been drilled. One of those wells is yielding 60 gallons a minute … we have another well that’s (producing) 30 gallons a minute (when we put them together) we got a 10 percent increase … but we haven’t found a major well, so this exploration is ongoing.”
Related WW Associates projects currently underway in Greene County are improvements to the WW Associates-designed elevated water storage tank along U.S. Route 29.
According to the firm’s website: “Significant commercial development is occurring Greene County along the corridor south of Ruckersville.  A preliminary engineering report, along with a Water CAD model, was prepared to determine the hydraulic condition of the existing water distribution system, as well as the future fire flow demand required by the proposed development.  Based on the model results, the existing 6-in water line serving the U.S. Route 29 corridor requires replacement with a larger 12-in water line.
And, the firm is currently designing water line improvements to increase water transmission capacity from the Quinque pressure zone to the Southeast Cluster pressure zone.  These infrastructure improvements are being constructed in conjunction with a water storage tank project to accommodate water demands from significant commercial development occurring in southern Greene County. 
A Preliminary Engineering Report, along with a WaterCAD model, was prepared to determine the hydraulic condition of the existing water distribution system, as well as the future fire flow demand required by the proposed development.  The improvements have been phased to construct and improve water transmission capabilities with respect to specific development needs.