Environmental and Community Concerns

Approximately 250,000 people and numerous businesses in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, and surrounding areas depend on PWC to be able to provide a safe and reliable drinking water supply. Reduced supply could have dire consequences for residents, businesses, and the local economy. Having a reliable source of water is essential for communities to have the opportunity to grow and develop. 

If approved, PWC could have to go to Drought Level One conservation measures on day one because of the reduction in water flow, even if our area is not in a drought. Less water also means less dilution of contaminants from upstream. This would require downstream communities to invest millions of dollars in additional water and wastewater treatment.

Another challenge is that lower water levels in the river can damage water treatment infrastructure, forcing ratepayers to pay for expensive repairs and cause rates to go up. Once an IBT is approved, it will be harder to prevent it from being expanded in the future

Economic Impact

Businesses and industries consider water availability when deciding where to expand. Loss of access to clean, affordable water can stifle development and discourage investment.

National Security Risks

PWC supplies up to 8 million gallons per day to Fort Bragg, the largest U.S. military installation. An approval of Fuquay-Varina’s request could challenge PWC’s ability to supply water to Fort Bragg. Fort Bragg is growing in importance. On December 5, 2025, three major Army commands were unified into a single Western Hemisphere Command, which is now headquartered at Fort Bragg.

Legal and Procedural Concerns

• The request conflicts with North Carolina law (G.S. 143-215.22L(t)), which gives priority to the donor basin.
• Fuquay-Varina’s application does not demonstrate that removing up to 6.17 million gallons daily won’t harm downstream users, as required by state law (G.S. 1430215.22L(d)(7)).
• Thousands of pages of technical documents were shared with impacted communities only days before the public comment period, limiting the ability for an informed public response.
• PWC supports extending the public comment period by at least 60 days and holding public hearings in affected communities in Wilmington, New Hanover County, and surrounding areas.

Legal challenges have previously succeeded in protecting the Cape Fear River Basin from harmful interbasin transfers. Click here to learn more about how PWC has protected our resources from past attempts at Interbasin Transfers.

Cumulative effects on the source river basin

IBT’s stretch resources when there is a drought, threatening water access and critical infrastructure. Our community is already experiencing challenges with low river flow during summer months; an IBT would only make matters worse.

According to the US Drought Monitor historical data (droughtmonitor.unl.edu), since 2000 there have been drought conditions D0 or worse:

• 56.9% of the time for the Upper Cape Fear River Basin (HUC  03030004)
• 52.5% of the time for the Lower Cape Fear River Basin (HUC  03030005)

The draft Triangle Water Partnership plan presented to the EMC in November shows at least 128 Million Gallons a Day (MGD) of demand in 2050 and 220 MGD in 2070. Downstream utilities are already confronting low flow challenges during the summer months; increased demand, reduced river flows, and frequent dry spells will only make the problem more frequent.

The availability of reasonable alternatives to the proposed transfer

The Town of Fuquay-Varina has the option of expanding their water treatment capability in Harnett County and return the water to the Cape Fear River Basin. The monetary cost difference between the options they submitted to the EMC when for returning water to the Cape Fear River Basin versus the Neuse River Basin is less than $250 million dollars. A less costly discharge location could be identified for Fuquay-Varina to reduce the estimated cost of the 19-mile force main, potentially lowering the cost of returning the cost of returning water to the Cape River River.

According to the most recent U.S. Census Data from 2023, the median household income in Fuquay-Varina, NC is $111,447. The median household income in Fayetteville, NC is $54,562. Growth in larger and more affluent communities should not come at the expense of other communities downstream who are working to improve the economic growth opportunities for their residents.

What Does 6.17 Million Gallons Look Like?

• Enough to fill 102,000 bathtubs every day (60 gallons per tub).
• Equivalent to 360,000 daily showers (17 gallons per shower).
• Fills 9.25 Olympic-sized swimming pools (660,000 gallons each).
• Almost matches the water in the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool (6.75 million gallons).
• Laid end-to-end, 6.17 million jugs of water would stretch 998 miles—the distance from Fayetteville to St. Louis.
• Supports the daily water needs of 77,125 people (80 gallons a day per person).