One of the world’s most famous artists/engineers — Leonardo da Vinci — once said, “Water is the driving force of all nature.”
Not only can water be used as a force or seen as one in seconds or eons it’s critical to all life.
We note this in light of a meeting of the Morgantown Utility Board tonight to decide the route of the final leg of a water line from a new auxiliary reservoir to its treatment plant. The meeting is at 5:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers.
The force behind this project was a January 2014 chemical spill near Charleston that disrupted tap service for some 300,000 people for days.
The new reservoir replaces MUB’s current reservoir, which only provides for a three-day supply of water if the Mon River should be contaminated. The new reservoir will provide up to a 30-day supply in a worst-case scenario.
Few are even aware that MUB responds to more than a handful of spills into the river every year, that forces it to switch over to its Cobun Creek reservoir.
In early May, MUB dropped the ball when it initially was operating under the impression that it still owned the land, which it once did, for its new route in White Park.
Since then, MUB has done its due diligence and met with any and all stakeholders on this project and made other amends to atone for its miscue.
For example, the likely route for this new water line will lead to about 2.5 acres of forest being clear cut.
However, MUB has worked closely with the the city’s Urban Landscape Commission and its tree board on the best route. It also hired an arborist to consult on this route.
Furthermore, MUB is also committed to replanting — at a two-for-one ratio — the 200 or so trees it will need to remove to complete its water line project through White Park. And it will work with the tree board to best determine where to plant these new trees.
Other routes to install this water pipeline would spare more trees but would require a pumping station resulting in far greater carbon emissions than any carbon capture lost to clearing an area of trees.
Though many will dispute how this project will build on the infrastructure of the park, we don’t.
What will result once the water line is underground is another popular trail through the park for accessing areas where most hikers, bikers and others never venture.
It’s obvious MUB has strived to do what it can to mitigate the disruption to this park’s forest without tacking on additional costs to consumers.
We’re not signing off on what route MUB agrees to tonight, sight unseen. Still, MUB has made a good faith effort to account for all concerned, including a lot of trees.
That’s completely unlike a force of nature that doesn’t care who or what gets in its way
