Business Journal - Report on Charlotte loses bid to join Supreme Court water fight

Lake Wylie, our water here in Tega Cay. Interesting article recently in the Business Journal.

Susan Stabley, Sjstabley@bizjournals.com
Portions of the Article.

South Carolina v. North Carolina is designated as case 138 Original; there have been only 137 other times a legal matter has gone straight to the high court. Usually a lawsuit is seen by the nine judges last, after working its way up from lower courts.

The inter-basin transfer or the IBT, removes water from one river basin into another. That's a problem for downstream communities and businesses - and states - because an IBT reduces the amount of water flowing in a river.

Energy companies and water utilities account for 92% of the water pulled from N.C. rivers. Of that, public-water supplies account for just a tenth of the demand. Charlotte pulls 53% of the water drawn by municipalities along the river. The demand for treated water grew to 110 million gallons per day in 2006 from 57 million gallons per day in 1987. The projected need by 2050 is 215 million gallons per day.

The city can still file a "friend of the court" brief to comment on issues in the federal case that it finds important.

"The city will work actively with the state to have our voice heard," says City Attorney Mac McCarley.