Western Virginia Water Authority will raise rates in Botetourt come October

Botetourt County citizens who are on public water through the Western Virginia Water Authority (WVWA) will see a rate increase in October, the first since the county joined the WVWA in 2015.

A WVWA spokesperson presented the Board of Supervisors with a plan for more than $15 million in water system upgrades throughout the county for various projects when the Supervisors met on August 22, 2023. The Board met at the Botetourt County Administration Building at Greenfield in Amsterdam.

The projects should improve reliability of water flow in some areas and eventually would double capacity at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield. The projects include pipe and pump station improvements, a new pump station in the Hollins area, improvements at Sanderson Drive interconnection and Gibson Lane/Tinker Creek water main improvements, renovations to the Botetourt County side of the water system in Iron Gate in the northern part of the county, and other transmission improvements.

These numerous projects have a total cost of about $15 million, some of which would be paid for grant funding but mostly by user fees. The projects are designed to improve reliability to the county’s water users.

Most of the water provided to Botetourt County comes from Carvins Cove. The water is moved into the county through a series of pump stations and water tanks. The WVWA is near capacity at some of its pump stations, so these need to be improved to avoid issues. A new pump station would pump directly to the Botetourt Commons station instead of through a variety of other stations, eliminating issues for customers, a WVWA spokesperson said.

The new pump station should be completed sometime in 2024. Additional water projects are planned for upcoming years.

Additionally, the WVWA would replace pipe near Exit 150 also. These projects are being coordinated with the Virginia Department of Transportation and its plans for improvements to Interstate 81.

There are other projects in the works for Botetourt County, but those are in the planning stages and not ready to be undertaken. These include the possibility of running sewer into Rainbow Forest in Blue Ridge as well as to Colonial Elementary School in the event that the water sewage treatment plant there fails or begins to fail.

                                                                                          — Anita Firebaugh, Special to The Botetourt Bee