NN terminates reservoir project

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - A 22-year battle ended Tuesday on the Peninsula. Environmentalists and Native Americans with an interest in the Mattaponi River have fought since the late 1980s to stop Newport News from building a 1,500 acre reservoir in King William County.

Despite years of protests, the King William Reservoir Project moved forward. The costs through the years totaled more than $54 million in taxpayer money. But earlier this year a judge said there was a problem with a permit; a problem that would add several million dollars to the bill and a couple of years to the timeline. Acting City Manager Neil Morgan said ending the project was the only feasible option.

Newport News Mayor Joe Frank said to his fellow council members, "All those who support terminating the project and authorizing the City Manager to bring closure to outstanding issues, please raise your hand."

The consensus was to end the project. The City Manager's and City Attorney's offices will draft resolutions to end contracts associated with the reservoir. Council members will then have to have a formal vote. The vote will likely take place during a regularly scheduled session in October.

Members of the tribes who've fought to protect the river and land near their reservations were not at the work session. However, Upper Mattaponi Indian Chief Ken Adams told WAVY.com earlier this week, "It's been a long, long process for the tribe. It's been really difficult and I'm glad it's over."

Members of the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club were at Tuesday's meeting. They listened to the presentation about why Newport News will no longer pursue the project. Sierra Club Director, Glen Besa told WAVY.com now that the King William Reservoir is no longer an option, he hopes to work with the city to handle future water demands.

"We're happy today that they reconsidered," he said. "They looked at the reservoir as a silver bullet. They didn't need all that water. What we really can do is use a lot of silver buckshot. There's a lot of little projects out there that can generate significant amounts of water."

Waterworks Director Brian Ramaley told WAVY.com times have changed since the King William Reservoir was initially proposed and studied. "Water supply systems are in a different world today than they were 15 years ago, 10 years ago, when this project made all the sense in the world," he explained. Ramaley said it is no longer believed that water usage can be predicted for 40 or 50 years from present time. "Demand patterns really aren't following trends that were predicted back then. People are conserving more water, they're using less," he said.

As for the $54 million plus already spent on the project, the city may be able to recover a fraction of the costs by selling land purchased for the reservoir. And an immediate savings of about $1 million a month is realized just from not pushing forward any further. Ramaley said during his presentation to council that until all work was halted in May, the city was spending about that much.

Ramaley said pulling the plug now will save potentially a lot more money later, since it no longer seemed likely the King William Reservoir would ever become a reality.

"The total project was going to be $300 million, and better to have backed away at $54 million, than a $150 Million in," Ramaley said.