Alcoa Protest

Stanly County leaders and business owners protested Monday in Raleigh for the rights to the water in their county.

Alcoa Power Generating Inc. is applying for a federal license to control the bodies of water they use for hydro energy. But some Stanly County residents say a 50-year license is too long and the agreement limits how water can be used during a drought.

Stanly County commissioner Lindsey Dunevant was one of the 85 to 90 people who rode to Raleigh for the protest.

”Even someone like the governor of the state of North Carolina would not have the opportunity to take water out of the Yadkin Basin and transfer it to other places, where it's needed across our state,” she said.

Alcoa says that's not exactly the case. During the drought of 2002, Stanly County was hit hard and it led to a revision of Alcoa's drought management plan.

Demonstrators from Stanly County were out in the rain Monday in Raleigh to get their message out to lawmakers.

Either way, water is limited. No matter who holds the license a certain amount of water has to flow downstream. Alcoa says their water management for the past century has helped the county.

“One is the recreational value that it brings to the local economy another is the tourism value and again that's an impact on the local economy,” said Ellis.

“The Yadkin is a huge natural resource and can be used as an economic engine to basically restart and rebuild our economy there in the Piedmont,” said Roger Dick, president of Uwharrie Capital Corp.

Commissioner Dunevant also said an estimated 4 million people will move to North Carolina in the next 20 years. He said the anticipated population boom is even more reason to take a thorough look at who controls the state's water resources.

One thing both sides agree on is that water is a valuable resource.