Boone’s Proposed Water Intake Environmental Assessment Finds Special Concern Mussels

Story by Kathleen McFadden

Earlier this month, Boone voters overwhelmingly approved a $25 million bond referendum for a new water intake facility on the South Fork of the New River in the Brownwood area near Todd. Town staff has now turned the focus to an environmental assessment currently underway.

According to Town Manager Greg Young, engineering firm WK Dickson mailed a “scoping” letter to the 18 agencies and departments who will review the assessment, including U.S. Fish & Wildlife, in mid-October. The document outlines the scope of the project—hence the term “scoping” letter—and provides a number of specific project parameters.

“The town’s engineers have completed their investigative work related to the environmental assessment,” Young said in a release. “This information is included in the scoping letter that was sent out. However, it’s important to note that some aspects of that scoping letter may change based on agency comments and the engineer’s responses,” he added. “On completion of that process, which may be close to the end of the year, there will be a 30-day period for public comment.”

As part of the environmental assessment, engineers conducted a formal aquatic species survey and discovered “several spike mussels (Elliptio dilata)” at the proposed intake site. Spike mussels are a North Carolina Special Concern species, meaning that they are protected and must be monitored as required under the state’s endangered wildlife act.

The letter notes, “impacts to the mussels will be avoided and minimized to the maximum extent practicable.”

Another impact of the proposed intake is the reclassification of land along the New River that will restrict development by limiting density and impervious surfaces and implementing stormwater control requirements.

In terms of river health, the scoping letter maintains that the new intake will have a negligible impact on the river’s water volume because Boone returns 95 gallons of treated water to the river for every 100 gallons of water removed. And the water going back into the river is cleaner than the water withdrawn from the river, the town maintains.

“Boone has been withdrawing water for our citizens from the New River for a number of years,” Young said in the release. “The water put back into the river has gone through an advanced water treatment facility—one of the top 10 in the state—and that water has to meet strict governmental standards. We have been a good steward with that water and will continue to be with the new water intake facility.”

The new water intake will expand Boone’s water treatment capacity from 3 million gallons per day to 4.5 million gallons per day. The infrastructure will include 11.6 miles of raw water transmission line and two pump stations.

The transmission line will be laid from the intake south along Brownwood Road to Highway 421, along 421 to a river crossing and then down Charlie Hollar Road. The line will then parallel the Greenway Trail and ultimately discharge into the existing raw water transmission line that serves the water treatment plant.

Plans call for the transmission line to cross the river five times—three times along the Greenway Trail alone. According to the scoping letter, all five crossings will be suspended over the river or bored under the river. “No open trenching across the river is anticipated, and no direct impacts to the river are anticipated,” the letter states. Formal aquatic species surveys are underway at all the planned crossings to document the existing conditions.