From Staff Reports 

ASHEVILLE — Significant and lasting damage from Tropical Storm Helene has “left the city’s watershed and reservoirs ‘extremely vulnerable’ to any moderate to severe weather events,” according to a June presentation, the Asheville Citizen Times reported on June 10.

“Burnett and Bee Tree reservoirs, located just outside of Black Mountain, saw an estimated 15 percent and 35 percent canopy loss, respectively, according to preliminary findings from a watershed analysis,” the ACT stated. “The turbidity of water at North Fork water plant, fed by Burnett Reservoir, is back to pre-storm levels.”

What’s more, “Water Resources Department spokesperson Clay Chandler said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ lease to operate the temporary pretreatment system ends in August,” the ACT noted.

And “without its temporary pretreatment system, run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers through a multimillion dollar contract, a much less severe weather event could leave the city without potable water for weeks — or however long it takes to reduce turbidity,” the ACT reported.

In a June 6 telephone interview, city Water Resources Department spokesman Clay Chandler told the ACT that “we are very, very fragile.”

The city planned issue a request for proposals in mid-June “to find an operator to take over the temporary pretreatment system once the Army Corps’ lease ends. The project, which aims to reduce turbidity and remove sediment from the water, uses dissolved air flotation devices, or DAF units,” the newspaper stated.

“It’s impossible to overstate how important it is that the DAF units remain in place until a permanent solution is completed and operational,” Chandler told the ACT. “The city has communicated this need to state and federal partners. As of early June, the city had not been made aware of a decision on future funding.”