State environmental officials are asking the public to provide input on the proposed reclassification of a small segment of the Catawba River located in McDowell and Burke counties.
The reclassification would also include all of Lake James.
McDowell County has requested the reclassification to allow for the construction of a new water supply intake. If approved, the reclassification would require greater water quality protection in an area that extends about five miles out from Lake James.
As part of the effort to obtain feedback, officials with the state Division of Water Resources will hold a public hearing to accept comments on the proposed reclassification. The public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 5 at McDowell Technical Community College, Harold Smith Building, 54 College Dr., Marion, N.C., 28752. Speaker registration begins at 5 p.m.
A map of the proposed reclassification area and related documents are available online at: deq.nc.gov.
Public comments on the proposed reclassification may also be mailed to: Division of Water Resources, Planning Section, Attn: Elizabeth Kountis, 1617 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C., 27699-1617. Public comments may be submitted by email to: [email protected]. Please be sure to include “Catawba Reclassification” in the email’s subject line.
The public comment period for the proposed reclassification ends Jan. 31. All comments received by the comment period closing date will be considered in the final determination regarding the reclassification.