Blowing Rock goes

to D.C. to discuss water
By Jeff Eason

The next time you wash your car, water your garden or take a bath, you might want to think about where that water comes from.

It comes right out of the tap, so it’s easy to take for granted this essential ingredient for modern living.

Folks in Blowing Rock took one more step last week in guaranteeing that they will have a safe clean source of water for years to come.

Thanks to the efforts of officials from the National Park Service, the Town of Blowing Rock and state and federal agencies, it looks as if the Blowing Rock Reservoir will soon become property of Blowing Rock.

Last Thursday in Washington, D.C., the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands listened to testimony from Blowing Rock Town Manager Scott Hildebran and others about a proposed land exchange between the Town and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

If approved, Blowing Rock would take over ownership of 20 acres of Parkway land that includes the reservoir and the Parkway would gain a 192-acre buffer tract of land adjacent to both the Cone Memorial Park and Pisgah National Forest.

The proposed bill is officially House Resolution (H.R.) 1211 and is titled the “Blue Ridge Parkway and Town of Blowing Rock Land Exchange Act of 2009.”

“We should see this come to a vote in a matter of weeks,” said Aaron Groen, communications director for Rep. Virginia Foxx’s office in Washington, D.C. “The Obama Administration has voiced its approval for this measure also.”

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Foxx and is co-sponsored by the entire North Carolina delegation. Such bipartisan support could serve as an indicator that the bill will have little trouble passing once it is up for a Congressional vote.

The proposed legislation has also received letters of support from Blowing Rock Mayor J.B. Lawrence, Watauga County Board of Commissioners Chair James Deal, N.C. Rep. Cullie Tarleton and N.C. Sen. Steve Goss.

“This non-controversial, bipartisan legislation is recognized by the North Carolina delegation as essential to the Blue Ridge Parkway’s vital tourism industry and the Town of Blowing Rock’s access to public drinking water,” said Foxx during last Thursday’s Subcommittee testimony.