Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris took to his blog to announce what he called a "major breakthrough in the water debate"—and he’s not talking about a crisis at the Ragged Mountain Dam spillway. The day after engineering firm Black & Veatch returned an increased cost estimate for repairing and incrementally building atop the Lower Ragged Mountain Dam—a plan largely opposed by Albemarle County officials—Norris said the community "can now say with authority that phasing in the new water supply system is a financially and technologically viable approach."
Following a November 23 review, Black & Veatch responded yesterday to questions raised by a trio of dam experts hired by the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority. The engineering firm also increased its construction cost estimate from $13.5 million to $19.5 million. In October, the Albemarle County Service Authority paid Schnabel Engineering $869,000 to pursue a final design for a new, earthen dam rather than build on the 100-year-old structure.
Norris called Black & Veatch’s report "very technical," but added that the questions raised by the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority’s independent technical review team did not yield any "deal-breakers."
"Addressing those concerns will not add but $1 million or so to the dam renovation project," Norris wrote. (Read his entire statement here.)
Five local organizations that have weighed inon the water debate—including the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Comerce, the Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC) and the Free Enterprise Forum—will host a news conference today at 1pm, at the PEC offices. Immediately following, Citizens for a Sustainable Water Plan will meet on the Downtown Mall, near the location of the news conference. Whether those meetings will yield deals or dealbreakers remains to be seen.
