It was a wet, bone-chilling day today but not a snowy one, fortunately. Though it rained practically all day, I was disappointed I could only capture 130 new gallons of rain into my tank before I had no more capacity left. Maybe Kelly’s right: maybe I do have a “problem.”
Today’s rain got me thinking again of this N&O story about a potential new water source for Raleigh. A Raleigh company called Eagle Water has rights to up to 58 million gallons of water per day (mgpd) being pumped from the PCS Phosphate mine near Aurora, NC. The problem is the company has no way to get it here to Raleigh where its needed. Not only that, the company needs to sell at least 25 mgpd just to make a profit. Pump anything less and they lose money.
I think a source like this should be explored. The amount of water the mine produces is double that of the U.S.’s largest desalination plant and it is far more efficiently produced. Eagle has even helpfully mapped out potential routes and costs for a pipeline to Raleigh.
A $200 million pipeline may be a small price to pay compared to the disaster that running out of water would surely be. The federal drought disaster relief funding for farmers alone is $600 million, for instance. Will Raleigh boldly take advantage of this plentiful source of water or will it continue to shrivel up?