If the Otter River watershed doesn’t get a significant amount of rain within the next 10 days, public water users in the northern end of Campbell County could be supplied by the James River.
Water levels are decreasing rapidly enough that county water managers are concerned they won’t be able to pull enough out to supply its roughly 7,000 users, County Administrator David Laurrell told the Board of Supervisors on Monday.
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The river’s volume is dropping by about 300,000 gallons per day, said Mike Damron, Campbell County Utilities and Services Authority administrator. The river currently has an estimated 3.5 million gallons per day flowing past Evington, according to a U.S. Geological Survey monitor.
“That puts us the first part of next week when we’d have to switch over,” Damron said. “We’ve been monitoring it daily, meeting and discussing and making preparations for several weeks.”
The county’s water system has a secondary connection with Lynchburg, which can provide backup if needed. During the drought of 2002, county utility workers prepared the interconnecting pipes, but never had to turn the valve.
Lynchburg’s water supply is now 95 percent from the James River, with 5 percent still coming from Pedlar Reservoir, according to published reports.
While Damron doesn’t think the county will need to be placed under water restrictions, “we would advise that everybody be cautious of the dry conditions,” he said. There have been reports of wells failing in the county because of record low groundwater levels, he added.
Monday’s river level was about twice as much as it was on that date in 2002, but many more users now rely on the river for water supply, Laurrell said.
The hope is that the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay will pass through the region by the end of the week and enough rain will fall to raise the Otter River’s levels, Laurrell said, “but right now, it’s dropping off very quickly.”
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