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ISLE OF WIGHT

Last Thursday, Isle of Wight County’s Board of Supervisors amended the county’s agreement with the Western Tidewater Water Authority to retain the ability to buy water from Lake Gaston in the future. Lake Gaston is a reservoir along the Virginia-North Carolina border in Brunswick County.

Per the terms of the original 2009 agreement between Isle of Wight County and the WTWA, Isle of Wight held a right and option to acquire a 1/60th share of water from the Lake Gaston project at the time of the creation of the Authority. Currently, the WTWA has neither the transmission nor treatment infrastructure to utilize water from Lake Gaston, nor does it plan to construct such infrastructure.

According to Assistant County Administrator Don Robertson, the WTWA recently determined that the Lake Gaston option was not in its best interest. However, since Isle of Wight County may some day wish to develop a connection to Lake Gaston, in addition to the water provided by the WTWA, for its Windsor Development Service District, Isle of Wight requested that the WTWA allow the county to retain the option to purchase Lake Gaston water.

The WTWA agreed to the county’s request, and with the approval of the Board of Supervisors, the county now has the ability to buy water from Lake Gaston on its own, should it choose to do so.

The WTWA has also informed the county that interim and future water treatment plant capacity upgrades may be needed during the term of the county’s agreement with the Authority. These upgrades would include provisions to increase the treatment and pumping capacity of the water plant.

Per the terms of Isle of Wight County’s agreement with the WTWA, the county would be required to contribute 25 percent of the costs of the upgrades. The water treatment plant and water lines that deliver water to Isle of Wight County are located in Suffolk.