Rob Hardy
Fontana Dam – Until the aging water lines are replaced, it seems the Town of Fontana Dam will have to make due with its multiple water leaks.
Glimmers of hope continue to appear intermittently for the municipality, as the source of a large underground leak keeps both the maintenance and water plant itself mystified.
Each time a leak is found, it is repaired. There have been multiple instances where the huge loss is narrowed down to a certain area, but somehow the leak evades.
The town’s ORC (Operator in Responsible Charge) Carrie Stewart followed up a promising February presentation with a humbling March address in her monthly water-loss update. In February, the area between the former administration building and Hellbender Pitstop off Hwy. 28 was believed to be one of the areas crews should hone in on; at March 20’s council meeting, Stewart said the loss has increased once again.
“We were doing a little better for a few days, but now we’re back to normal,” Stewart said.
The average water loss in February was 237,000 gallons per day, which kept staff at the plant an average of 14 hours a day. The loss peaked at a daily loss of 263,000 – and that was well before the town’s lone revenue source, Fontana Village Resort, entered its peak season.
To drive the point home on how much the problem has exacerbated, Stewart said the plant’s production went from 4.7 million gallons in February 2023 to 6.88 million in February 2024: an increase of 2.18 million.
“That really underscores the need to find these leaks as soon as possible,” mayor Rob Hardy pointed out. “There’s no miracle out there, unfortunately.”
Fontana Dam has a grant in place from the Appalachian Regional Commission to upgrade the water lines, which date back to when the town was first built during the dam’s construction in the 1940s. Cary-based Withers Ravenel will be the engineer tasked with the overhaul, but has to first bid and the town sign off on the estimate before the funding will be released.
“We’re not making any progress,” Stewart said of the current model, where leaks are repaired and pressure builds up elsewhere in the clay piping, creating more trickles.
If things continue, Stewart even projected that another operator might be needed at the plant.
The council also accepted the resignation of council member Rachel Wachacha at the meeting. Town administrator Zelerie Rogers said that another candidate has already expressed interest in filling the vacancy.