Â鶹´«Ã½

It’s those weaknesses that the two water producers in Burke County are hoping to shore up.

The city of Â鶹´«Ã½ and town of Valdese, both of which run water treatment plants, are seeking federal money to connect the two systems and be prepared if another disaster happens in the future. The connection could benefit the town of Drexel as well, local officials said.

The Â鶹´«Ã½ City Council and Valdese Town Council recently approved resolutions to explore, design and fund a connection project described as the Â鶹´«Ã½-Valdese-Drexel Water Interconnect.

The project hinges on getting grant funding from the state for a Hurricane Helene program implemented by the American Relief Act, 2025, according to the resolution.

The potential connection could help overcome the types of challenges the city and town experienced during Hurricane Helene, said Valdese Mayor Charlie Watts.

“It’s kind of like we’ll have each other’s back,� Watts said.

Valdese Manager Todd Herms said during the hurricane there were systems that either quit working or were dangerously to the point of not having water.

“And not having water is not good for several reasons, but one of them is fire protection,� Herms said. “If you don’t have enough water, enough pressure, and then a house catches on fire, we have no way to fight it. So you need water for drinking, you need water for fire protection and businesses need water to operate so people can go to work.�

He said the thought behind connecting the systems is to try to build up resiliency so in the future, if there is another natural disaster and something affects the Â鶹´«Ã½ plant, then Valdese can send water to Â鶹´«Ã½ and Drexel, and vice versa.

“Now, it wouldn’t be enough to run full capacity like it would be on a normal day, but it’s enough to provide safe drinking water and fire protection to a majority of the citizens,� Herms said.

How it would work

Â鶹´«Ã½ City Manager Sally Sandy said the entire water system is designed with water tanks and pipes positioned to keep water pressure in the system.

If a water plant were to go down, like in the hurricane, then there is water storage in the system’s tanks, which can be used to keep the distribution system to customers running, even if a plant isn’t functioning, Sandy said.

If a system goes down and it has a generator going, it would still have water usage and water distribution capability because of the tanks and storage system, she said.

Sandy said with interconnecting systems, if a tank was offline for a long period of time and it lost hydraulics, they system could use a connection with another system and feed a part of the town off that connection.

“If we can do a connection that, ultimately, can get water to that tank, then I have gained a lot of benefit from this interconnection,� Sandy said.

Herms said Valdese and Â鶹´«Ã½ have partnered to pursue a grant that would create a vital connection between its water systems for emergency operations.

“This collaboration strengthens regional resilience and safeguards public health, ensuring continuity of service not just for our communities, but for much of Burke County,� Herms said. “As regional water suppliers, this investment benefits thousands of residents and businesses by reinforcing the reliability and security of our infrastructures.�

Both municipalities are currently working with McGill Associates engineers on the design phase of the project, Herms said.

Funding the connection

While the cost of the project, at this point, is unknown, Sandy said it would be significant. She said in addition to the cost of lines between tanks, there would have to be operation, maintenance and ownership agreements.

If approved, the money would come from state appropriations given to the Division of Water Infrastructure for resiliency projects, said Valdese Finance Director Bo Weichel.

McGill Associates, an engineering firm in Hickory, has offered to do some preliminary engineering and submit the application to the division at no cost to the municipalities, Weichel said.

Grants through the state’s Division of Water Infrastructure are awarded based on the project, Weichel said. If it is interested in funding the project, then the division will come back to get an engineer’s cost on the project and then determine how much it will fund, he said.

Weichel said the division is looking for the best resiliency projects out there right now and will consider which ones are going to be the best for western North Carolina.

If the division decides to look further into the resiliency project between Â鶹´«Ã½ and Valdese, then the municipalities will have to hire engineers to do a more in-depth study on how much it would cost, Weichel said.

The state could fund all or part of the project.

Regional benefit

Hurricane Helene knocked out Â鶹´«Ã½â€™s water system. That meant the town of Drexel, which gets its water from Morganton, also was down. Valdese still had water.

Weichel said during Hurricane Helene, Valdese tried to get water to Drexel but there was no connection to do so.

Getting Â鶹´«Ã½ and Valdese water systems connected also has the potential to benefit the city of Lenoir and Caldwell County.

Weichel said if Â鶹´«Ã½ and Valdese systems were both to go down, Lenoir could push water through Valdese, and as long as Valdese’s infrastructure is still intact, it could push water from Lenoir through Valdese to Â鶹´«Ã½.

Valdese and Lenoir agreed to connect their water systems last year. The money to do so came from the state.

As part of that connection, Valdese is getting a $7 million upgrade to its water plant, which is preparing to increase the system’s daily water production. The city of Lenoir got $17 million to connect its system to Valdese by running water lines under Lake Rhodhiss.

Valdese has the capacity to produce up to 12 million gallons of water a day, town officials have said. It currently produces around 3.5 million gallons a day, according to the town.

Lenoir is the only water producer in Caldwell County.