'What we’re throwing caution to is whether to over commit ourselves to water usage that we just don’t have the supplies for directly out of the river at this time,' said Brotman. 'If this new development draws too heavily on this common resource it will not only compromise that business but everything else we’ve built upon it including the town park, the town itself.
Brotman said he is concerned that the town is already overdrawing from the North Fork and with two new residential developments currently being developed in Strasburg connecting an industrial-zoned property could be a big problem.
'We have had several years of water restrictions come because of the flows of the North Fork being so low at times, particularly in the summer. We need to first see what are the potential impacts of these new developments before we commit ourselves to another withdrawal,' he said.
Brotman said adding a water connection to the property could put a great strain on the river and its fish population.
'Although Strasburg has the physical and legal capacities to draw more water from the river, we do not have a good current accounting of what the river can handle without straining either the overall public water capacities, the ecological systems of the river, or both,' he said.
'Congestion, traffic, the place is full of sinkholes and what it might do to our well water and environment, I just hope that politics and greed don’t get in the way of making the right decision,' said Gregory Holsinger, who lives in Oranda."
and just a week earlier:
'I’m certainly open to the possibility of extending utilities outside of town,' councilwoman Emily Reynolds said. 'I imagine this policy as a tool for staff mainly, but also for council to better understand what scenario is worth saying yes to.'
Whether or not an extension is granted by the town, Vice Mayor Ken Cherrix argued, developments will get utilities if they are determined to do so. He added that granting extensions is a way to economically benefit the town. 'It’s just an option to make a little bit of revenue off of it,' he said."
and, four days ago:
will the decision to extend water service to the Oranda property be based on facts, technically uninformed opinions, "politics and greed" or common sense?
why would anyone in their right mind approve taking more water out of the river when "the town is already overdrawing from the North Fork" and has had "several years of water restrictions because of the flows of the North Fork being so low at times"?
Given the town's water supply problems, why isn't the town looking into wells to supplement or replace the water that it's taking from the river? could it be that makes too much sense?
approval for extending strasburg's inadequate water system is moving forward rapidly. will the water service extension decision be another "comcast"?
If you live, work or visit Strasburg, then you should find these photos extremely disturbing. The E. coli level on Thursday 06.23.2022, 816.4 MPN CFUs per 100 mL at the NF Shenandoah River @ Strasburg Park Public Boat Landing, is more than 16 TIMES the previous day's reading (50.4). It's 3.5 TIMES the pre-October 2019 Virginia water quality standard for primary recreational use (235).
The intake for Strasburg's water supply and the outfall for its water treatment plant are less than a half mile upstream from where these samples were taken.
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