August 29, 2002
Governor Michael F. Easley
Office of the Governor
20301 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-
Subject : HIGH ROCK LAKE and
The Yadkin River
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Project # 2197
Dear Governor Easley;
I am writing you because of a Press Release August 29, 2002 concerning our lake, issued by one of your departments that is supposed to safeguard water resources for the State of North Carolina. From the content of the press release, it seems the N.C. Division of Water Resources believes they have a higher duty to the State of South Carolina than they do to the citizens of North Carolina. I speak of the unbelievable deal NCDWR brokered to give South Carolina about 300% more water flow in the Pee Dee River than is being generated by Mother Nature in North Carolina!
Nearly everyone with an interest in the Yadkin River or High Rock Lake knows we have experienced a devastating loss this summer. We will long remember the Year 2002 as the year Alcoa drained the lake. We will also remember this year as one of our worst drought years ever, giving rise to efforts by many special interest groups to lay claim to the waters of the Yadkin and High Rock Lake.
We know that you have recognized the serious nature of our water reserves, commend you for your call for conservation. Fortunately, it appears most users of water from the Yadkin River Basin in North Carolina are heeding your warnings. That is not the case in South Carolina. We are unable to find any evidence of water use restrictions being mandated by officials in SC, in marked contrast to efforts by North Carolina to conserve our water supplies. People in SC are still golfing on irrigated golf courses, washing cars and otherwise using as much water as they like.
The State of North Carolina must act now to protect our water resources, and be certain lakes and rivers within our State are managed for the good of North Carolina. While we have a moral and ethical obligation to maintain water quality and quantity in measures provided by Nature in our rivers which flow into neighboring states, North Carolina certainly has no obligation to supplement natural water flows for the benefit of our neighbors.
We also expect you to direct our employees in N.C. Division of Water Resources to educate themselves on facts before they made decisions that affect the health and welfare of our State. A specific point of the reliance of NCDWR upon information supplied by Alcoa and other special interest groups can be found in a web page posting titled Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin Drought Management (http://www.ncwater.org/Water_Supply_Planning/Drought_Monitoring_Council/Yadkin-PeeDee).
In that document NCDRW asserts that “rules established by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission are causing a drastic draw-down at High Rock Lake…”. If NCDRW would research the license for the Yakin Project P-2197 for themselves, rather than accepting the word of Alcoa or SC representatives, they would find that the subject FERC rules, if followed, would have prevented the draw-down.
I am attaching three documents, two of which were filed with FERC today. The third will give you some background perspective on the lake as we see it. The documents filed with FERC address issues which should have been studied closely by NCDRW; and we believe that had these issues been given proper consideration our lakes could be headed for recovery instead of further depletion for the good of South Carolina interests.
In closing, please consider two specific requests:
Thank you for your time in reviewing this correspondence and we will look forward to more positive actions by the State of North Carolina to protect the interests of its Citizens.
Sincerely,
Larry O. Jones
310 Fox Hollow Farm Road
Salisbury, NC 28146
larry@foxhollowfarm.org