To the editor:

Commissioner Tom Pack states he is comfortable and understands completely this complex water contract-deal, the selling-buying-trading of our water resources, because he does these kinds of deals, every day, in his carpet company.

In the carpet business what happens when you sign a deal with the wrong amount of yardage or use the wrong unit of measurement in the negotiated deal? News flash: carpet and water contracts are not the same and these fundamental, basic errors are exactly why Polk citizens need certified, independent experts in the field of water resources/rights/engineering and utility law experts to protect us, our county and our precious water resources in these high stakes negotiations.

See page 3 and 5 of latest draft-resolution (dated July 23, 2015) water contract approved by majority (comfortable) Polk County Commissioners Pack/Gage/Holbert/Bradley to go back to ICWD for their impressions (rebuttal) on August 10, 2015

“WHEREAS, … Lake Adger, a fresh impoundment reservoir consisting of 34.302 acres”…. that is owned by Polk County and that the Commissioners are preparing to trade away happens to be 371 acres currently, according to the recent ‘Lake Adger Dredging Feasibility Study Report’ by Altamont Environmental, Inc. dated May 20, 2015.

“WHEREAS, … assign to ICWD Polk County statutory right to withdraw up to six million gallons per day (MGD) of impounded raw water from Lake Adger (with 2 million gallons reserved for Polk County) and make available to ICWD, upon request, up to 2 million gallons per day (MGD) of additional raw water from the Green River, for a total term of seventy-five years.” … so ICWD has their units of measurement right using MGD and Polk does not, cutting itself insanely short by saying its reserves are to be just “2 million gallons” instead of 2 million gallons per day.

Message in the ICWD board room after August 10 will no doubt sound something like this: “good for us and too bad for them, they know not what they do.” Please, please Polk County Comfortable Commissioners, get humbly uncomfortable and hire out the help you need for all of our sakes.

Sky Conard
Mill Spring, N.C.