By ELENA MARSH
Insider Staff Writer
Moore County officials are backing away from their original intent of developing a future water resource on their own and, instead, reaching out to the town of Southern Pines for a partnership arrangement.
During a meeting Wednesday of the Board of Commissioners’ Water and Sewer Task Force, newly elected board Chair Kurt Cook and Vice Chair Nick Picerno expressed a desire to invest in an expansion plan with Southern Pines’ existing water and wastewater treatment systems.
If the entire board concurs, it would be a major shift away from a strategy, which the board signaled earlier this year, of drawing water from Deep River in the northern end of the county.
Preliminary estimates showed that project could cost as much as $200 million. And the county would face a steep regulatory hurdle to make that project happen, one that they were uncertain they could overcome.
The need for a future water source is acute. Based on growth projections in a study from last year, the county could experience a gap between supply and demand as soon as 2029. If nothing is done, and with the knowledge that Aberdeen won’t renew its existing contract to sell water to the county, the gap would grow to almost 6 million gallons a day by 2052.
The Drowning Creek Southern Pines Alternative, as it was referred to in a presentation by Public Works Director Brian Patnode, is the most cost effective option presented so far at $117 million. This plan would involve the county entering into a new relationship with Southern Pines to build a water intake further downstream of the existing Southern Pines intake in the town’s reservoir.
The plan currently exists in two phases. The first would take about six years to complete, according to an LKC Engineering report and cost approximately $39 million. It would provide 3 million gallons per day to the county.
The second phase would cost approximately $78 million. The projected future water supply needs indicate the second phase would need to be completed by approximately 2034, but the schedule could vary based on actual growth rates.
The town and county have to agree on capital projects, operation and bulk purchase rates.
Moore County and Southern Pines signed an existing bulk purchase contract in June 2023. That contract allows for a 1 million gallons per day capacity and has a five-year term expiring in 2028.
“We have talked to Southern Pines,” said Moore County Manager Wayne Vest. “They have been very receptive to the Southern Pines alternative. It has a much lower overall cost and also a much lower capital cost for the first 3 million additional gallons. That option ticks all the boxes for right now.”
In a phone interview on Thursday, Southern Pines Town Manager Reagan Parsons echoed Vest’s sentiments, saying that the discussions up to now have been exploratory.
“There has been no discussion at the council level,” said Parsons. “But we were a part of the LKC discussions when they were doing their study so we knew we were an option. Our first priority is serving our residents and our customer base. All discussions have been around how this could be a win-win partnership.”
Parsons said that so far, the town and attorneys are approaching the discussion very optimistically while the details are yet to be worked out, but he can see how the partnership could provide for greater capacity and greater resilience for the Southern Pines customer base.
The potential partnership with Southern Pines would include employing and expanding their existing treatment plant facilities, including using the existing 140 million gallon raw water reservoir.
“I can see bringing the idea to council within the first six months of the new year,” said Parsons.
A partnership between Southern Pines and the county wasn’t always the favored option. At the beginning of this year, county officials were most interested in a plan that would allow for the county to control water assets, as opposed to options that require it to buy water from other sources.
“Control of the asset to me has become the top priority,” Picerno said back in January. “I think Moore County needs to build it, we need to own it and we need to operate it.”
That sentiment from Picerno has since been reexamined due to its significant hurdles, including what’s called an “interbasin transfer.”
By quirk of geography, Moore County falls within three river basins: the Deep River basin in northern Moore and the Cape Fear River basin split with the Lumber River basin for southern Moore. The state tightly regulates how much water can be shifted between basins, and getting permission to exceed that daily limit is highly difficult.
At first, county officials believed they could convince the state legislature to sign off on the transfer agreement. Picerno thought the county could have leverage with the state because it’s home to the USGA’s new GolfHouse Pinehurst and will host four more U.S. Opens through 2047, in addition to about a dozen other USGA championships.
Ensuring a sufficient water supply for Pinehurst is critical. Since the state worked to recruit the USGA to Pinehurst, Picerno thought the vested interest would work in Moore County’s favor.
However, the uncertainty of that plan — and costs that could approach $200 million — were enough to have the county reconsider its options.
“We aren’t going to get the transfer,” said Picerno at the Wednesday meeting. “If you get one, you’d be a rarity. You’d better know some people and we don’t know enough people.
“We want some ownership with them, as a partner. I think Southern Pines just makes so much sense.”
In response to some questions on how a partnership like this could lead to future projects and a potential countywide water system, Picerno said, “I think if we can demonstrate that works, then a countywide system might actually start making some sense. If you can demonstrate that the county and a municipality can make something work, maybe we can make that dream of having a county wide water system become a possibility.”
Contact Elena Marsh (910) 693-2484 or elena@thepilot.com.
