The state will require Charlottesville-Albemarle to prepare a comprehensive water
supply plan by November 2011. A key part of that plan will be communicating how we
have decided to upgrade and replace aging water treatment facilities and pipelines. The plan
will detail how we intend to utilize the Ragged Mountain Reservoir and the South Fork
Rivanna Reservoir. The Ragged Mountain Dam has safety issues today and is operating
under a conditional permit. The community water supply plan approved in 2006 was intended
to help satisfy the state’s planning requirements and the safety issues at Ragged Mountain.
Since that plan was approved, important questions have been raised about costs and
potential alternatives. In 2010, the community will be provided more extensive research
from a number of additional investigative studies (see page 4) that have been requested
by the public and local officials. This will allow our elected leaders to make decisions about
how to invest our limited financial resources and prepare this community for our future.
“There seems to be a perception in the community that we could
string together any number of other options to create an approvable
plan and that’s just not the case. Any such plan would have to go
through the same process we just went through and there is no
guarantee that it would be approved by the regulators as we saw
with Buck Mountain.”
Supervisor Dennis Rooker (Jack Jouett), September 2009
Overall water use in our community is now trending slightly down since the 2002
drought. Water usage at the growing University of Virginia is on the rise.
While today’s water usage is well below the projected estimates incorporated in the 2006
plan, recent water usage is certainly impacted by a number of factors including weather, the
national economy, and limited local residential and industrial development. However, where
there is thriving business and growth in the community, water usage is on the rise. Since
2005, growth at the University of Virginia and its medical center has resulted in increased
water use. The university reached a six-year high in water bills at the end of the 2008-2009
school year.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality already considers both Charlottesville and
Albemarle to be among the most efficient users of water in the entire state.
Click here to see how we compare. Thirty to fifty year water plans in Virginia have to
satisfy projected needs and cannot factor in reduced usage during droughts. In other words,
you can’t build a plan based upon trends in crisis conditions.
The 2006 community water supply plan assumes a 5% conservation rate and this projection
was accepted by state and federal agencies when they issued permits for the plan. While
this community may indeed be able to conserve more water, there are limits to what our