COLUMBIA, S.C. - A power company and several municipalities are costing the state precious time and money in its federal lawsuit against North Carolina, South Carolina's top prosecutor said Wednesday.
``It was suggested that this one may be completed within two years,'' Attorney General Henry McMaster told state lawmakers and environmental leaders. ``But with the addition of these interveners, of course that has stretched it out. So we really don't know. We're in uncharted waters.''
In 2007, McMaster filed a federal lawsuit seeking to stop North Carolina from draining water from the 225-mile long Catawba River, which provides drinking water to 1.3 million people. The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider the case directly,
Last year, the special master appointed by justices to help resolve the dispute allowed the city of Charlotte, Duke Energy and a water system serving Union County, N.C., and Lancaster County, S.C., to enter the case and submit arguments of their own.
McMaster says the case should just be between the states, not individual municipalities or other entities.
North Carolina has said its water needs pose no imminent threat to its southern neighbor. A message left for North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper's office was not immediately returned.
The litigation is costly, and McMaster's office hopes to get enough money from a state budget that's already lost $1 billion to budget cuts since July. Last year, McMaster's office got $1.2 million to fight the case. This year, he's asking state lawmakers for nearly double that amount, $2.2 million.
``The more parties that are in it, the more that it will cost,'' McMaster said. ``We do want to get it right.''
North Carolina's decision to divert the water has put undue strain on an already struggling river, says one of McMaster's deputies working on the case. In April, American Rivers named the Catawba-Wateree River the most endangered waterway in the nation, a condition the group said was aggravated by potential overuse and persistent drought.
``In an endangered river ... the court has got to step in and reallocate South Carolina's fair share of the water,'' Assistant Deputy Attorney General Bob Cook said. ``That's basically what our ultimate goal is.''
The case could set precedent for how other states handle future water disputes, McMaster said. Tennessee and South Carolina officials have expressed worry that Atlanta may look to the Savannah River for relief. Georgia, Alabama and Florida have fought over how much water can be stored in Lake Lanier and other north Georgia reservoirs.
South Carolina lawmakers have also waded into the water fight. A law sponsored by Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, whose district touches the state's northern border, could require permits and limit the water large users like electric plants could pull from rivers and streams.
McMaster declined Wednesday to comment on the legislation, citing the ongoing lawsuit.
Wednesday
October 9th, 2024
2:19AM
