Opinion: Upstream water plan threatens New Hanover

By Kenneth Waldrop, posted Dec 5, 2025 on wilmingtonbiz.com

Fuquay-Varina seeks to satisfy its water needs by subtracting millions of gallons from the Cape Fear River

The Cape Fear River is a prime source of drinking water for more than 500,000 people in the Lower Cape Fear region. Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) – the water and sewer service provider for more than 200,000 people in Wilmington, Wrightsville Beach and much of New Hanover County – relies on the Cape Fear for 80% of the drinking water it treats and distributes to families, businesses, schools, churches and other customers.

Reliable access to drinking water is crucial for a community to thrive and grow, so its leaders must remain vigilant to any threat to that access. Our region has faced down such threats before, including recently from an upstream chemical manufacturer that was polluting the Cape Fear River. Now another, different, threat looms.

The town of Fuquay-Varina has asked the N.C. Environmental Management Commission to approve its application for an Interbasin Transfer Certificate (IBT) to pull 6.17 million gallons per day (MGD) from the Cape Fear and, after treatment and use for the town’s residents and businesses, discharge 6.17 MGD of treated wastewater into the Neuse River Basin.

If approved, Fuquay-Varina’s plan would permanently subtract 6.17 MGD of water from the river flow available to CFPUA, Brunswick County, Pender County and others who depend on the Cape Fear to provide drinking water to their customers. Put in perspective, 6.17 MGD of raw water from the river is enough to provide treated drinking water to more than 27,000 homes.

CFPUA has joined with New Hanover County, the city of Wilmington, business groups such as the Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association and Cape Fear Realtors, along with dozens of municipalities and other groups throughout the Lower Cape Fear region to oppose the IBT as proposed.

Fuquay-Varina’s one-sided plan poses a number of substantial risks to our community. The resulting diminished flow at our raw water intakes at Kings Bluff increases the potential that water restrictions must be implemented in times of drought. Mandatory water-use restrictions were imposed as recently as 2019, even without the loss of 6.17 MGD to benefit Fuquay-Varina.

The town’s proposal also creates a playbook for other water-hungry municipalities upstream to satisfy their growing needs at the expense of communities like ours. The updated Triangle Regional Water Supply Plan published just last month announced a “near midterm” need of 50 MGD of new water supply necessary for continued Triangle growth, with an additional 100 MGD of supply required long term.

To be clear, this is not solely about a growing upstream neighbor tapping into the Cape Fear for drinking water. The problem is what Fuquay-Varina wants to do with that water after using it. The best practice in such cases is for a municipality or utility to return water to the donor source like the Cape Fear River. That way, the water remains available to downstream communities. The draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) submitted by the town in support of its IBT application lays out alternatives that would do just that – at an additional cost. Instead of adopting this win-win solution, however, the town’s preferred plan is to send the water to the Neuse River Basin, shifting the cost to those of us downstream.

The N.C. Environmental Management Commission (EMC) is charged with evaluating and ruling on Fuquay-Varina’s application. To solicit public comments, the EMC scheduled three public hearings, the first of which was held on Dec. 4, in Fayetteville, with others scheduled in Raleigh on Dec. 9 and Pittsboro on Dec. 11.

You may be wondering why no public meeting is scheduled in New Hanover County, given the implications for our community. That concern is shared by many local leaders, who are actively pressing for a fourth hearing in New Hanover County so our voices can be heard too.

Meanwhile, I encourage you to submit a comment on Fuquay-Varina’s IBT application to: Maya Holcomb, Division of Water Resources, 512 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, N.C. 27604, or by email to maya.holcomb@deq.nc.gov.

Comments must be postmarked or emailed by April 1, 2026.

Kenneth Waldroup is executive director of the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority.

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