Hickory City Council on Tuesday approved a resolution supporting a long-range water plan for the Catawba River basin, a plan that concludes cutting interbasin transfers alone would not fix the basin’s water supply challenges. The vote comes as a coalition of local governments from Catawba and four neighboring counties opposes Charlotte Water’s request to move more water out of the river.
Council also approved the two largest construction contracts on its Oct. 6 agenda, a $3.59 million sewer extension in the city’s northwest and a $1.23 million first phase of Sandy Pines Park, and gave first-reading approval to rezoning 24.39 city-owned acres in Burke County for the planned Catawba River Environmental Education Center, according to the city’s action agenda posted Wednesday morning.
The action agenda shows whether each item passed, not how individual council members voted.
Catawba First News previewed the meeting on Monday.
Council backs the Catawba-Wateree water plan
The resolution, presented by Public Utilities Director Will Hamblin, says Hickory supports the 2025 Catawba-Wateree River Basin Integrated Water Resources Plan “as a framework for collaborative action to support a sustainable water future for generations to come.”
The plan was developed by the Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group, a nonprofit funded by Duke Energy and 21 public water utilities in North and South Carolina. Hickory is a member, as are Charlotte Water, Granite Falls, Lincoln County, Statesville and Mooresville. The plan projects water demand through 2075 across the river’s 11 reservoirs, from Lake James to Lake Wateree.
The resolution calls the plan “a neutral, analytical document presenting facts and possible scenarios without advocating for any particular outcome.” It also states that supporting the plan “does not preclude or restrict” members or other signers “from initiating, participating in, or responding to any future regulatory proceedings (including but not limited to interbasin transfer certificate processes) in any way it chooses.”
The transfer fight
Charlotte Water holds a 2002 state certificate to move up to 33 million gallons a day out of the Catawba basin, drawing from Lake Norman and Mountain Island Lake and sending the water into the Rocky River basin, according to the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality. The utility is seeking to raise that limit to 63 million gallons a day to meet projected 2055 demand. It still has to submit an environmental impact statement before the state Environmental Management Commission can act.
The Western Piedmont Council of Governments is coordinating a coalition of local governments from Alexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba and McDowell counties in response to the request, according to a presentation its executive director, Anthony Starr, gave Catawba County commissioners on March 2. The coalition’s stated position is that large transfers could limit the region’s growth and make severe droughts worse for communities along the river.
House Bill 850, enacted in July 2025, put a two-year moratorium on new transfers or expansions above 15 million gallons a day and directed the N.C. Collaboratory at UNC-Chapel Hill to study the approval process and make recommendations to the General Assembly in 2027, according to the same presentation.
What the plan says about transfers
The plan lists six systems with certificates to transfer more than 1 million gallons a day out of the basin: Charlotte Water (33 million gallons), Statesville (15), Concord, Kannapolis and Cabarrus County (10), Mooresville (9.54), Chester Metropolitan District in South Carolina (9.2) and a Union County–Lancaster County system. It estimates the amount leaving the basin on an average day at about 28 million gallons now, rising to about 58 million by 2055 and 69 million by 2075.
Planners modeled a scenario in which all the used water now sent to other basins came back to the Catawba. Run against the 2006–2009 drought, that shifted the basin from Stage 2 (severe drought) to Stage 1 (moderate drought) for 34 more days under the basin’s drought protocol.
The largest local effect was downstream at Lake Wylie, on the South Carolina line, where days with the lake more than half a foot below its critical level fell from 42 to 4. The year Lake Wylie is projected to first run short stayed in the same 2025–2035 window.
The plan concludes that removing transfers is “not a standalone solution,” that the benefits “are localized,” and that the basin still needs broader water supply planning, demand management, infrastructure investment and coordinated drought response. It names climate and water demand as the two factors with the most effect on future supply.
In the plan’s baseline model, Lake Hickory does not reach its “decision point,” the year water access would be affected, until after 2125, and that held under every alternative climate, demand and land-use scenario the planners ran.
Sewer extension goes to State Utility
The NW Sewer Extension Project went to State Utility Contractors Inc. for $3,591,146, the lowest of six bids opened Sept. 15. The project was advertised Aug. 4.
The award is tentative. It becomes final only after the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality issues an authorization to award.
Sandy Pines Park moves toward construction
Eagle-Wood, Inc. won the Sandy Pines Park Phase One contract at $1,226,702, the lowest responsive of four valid bids. Consulting firm Benesch handled surveying, design and permitting.
The first phase includes a parking lot, sidewalks and trails, an accessible restroom, play structures, cornhole amenities and site work.
Money for L.P. Frans, police and the park
Budget Revision No. 6, approved on first reading:
- Puts $158,483 in insurance money toward finishing repairs at L.P. Frans Stadium. Of that, $77,067 is FY26 insurance money that had fallen to fund balance, $53,405 is reimbursement from ServPro and Travelers, and $28,011 comes from the city’s insurance fund property claims account.
- Moves $213,789 from the general fund balance to construction services at Sandy Pines Park.
- Uses a $27,645 insurance reimbursement to replace a damaged Hickory Police Department vehicle.
- Spends $40,000 in prior-year donations to HPD on new gym equipment for the department.
- Directs $39,378 in youth sports sponsorship and activity revenue to Parks and Recreation programs.
The revision returns for a second reading. Budget Revision No. 5, approved unanimously on first reading Sept. 15, received second-reading approval Tuesday.
CREEC rezoning clears first reading
The city asked to rezone land it owns at 964 and 970 Airport Rhodhiss Road, plus an unaddressed parcel to the east, from Burke County R-3 Residential to City of Hickory Planned Development. The land was recently annexed into the city, a step council took up in September.
The city says the site is planned for the Catawba River Environmental Education Center, which will be open to the public for educational and recreational use. The Hickory Regional Planning Commission heard the request Sept. 23, heard from no speakers and unanimously recommended approval. The rezoning returns for a second reading.
Trail, fireworks and library donations
Council also approved:
- A $34,885.21 amendment to the city’s contract with Thomas, Gordon and Shook Consulting Engineers for construction-phase services on the Aviation Museum Connector Multi-Use Trail. Federal money covers $27,884.17 and the city $6,977.04. The amendment is contingent on N.C. Department of Transportation concurrence.
- Fireworks permits for PyroStar Entertainment at Hickory Motor Speedway on Oct. 17 and Oct. 24 (rain date Oct. 25), subject to drought conditions and the fire marshal’s final approval.
- A resolution allowing Hickory Public Library to accept donated equipment. City staff said the library had no procedure for accepting such donations. The item was pulled from the consent agenda and discussed before it passed.
Planning Director Brian Frazier introduced consultant Kimley-Horn, which is working on the city’s Hickory by Choice 2050 plan and Land Development Code update. Council took no action on that item or on board appointments.
What’s next
Budget Revision No. 6 and the CREEC rezoning return for second readings. The sewer award awaits state authorization. Charlotte Water’s transfer request goes to the state Environmental Management Commission after the utility submits its environmental impact statement.
Source note: As of publication, the City of Hickory had not posted minutes from the Oct. 6 meeting, and the action agenda does not list individual votes. A local news report first flagged the water plan item. This story is based on the city’s Oct. 6 action agenda and agenda packet, including the resolution text (Exhibit XI.B.1); the Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group’s Integrated Water Resources Plan final draft; the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s Charlotte Water transfer certificate page; the Western Piedmont Council of Governments presentation in Catawba County’s March 2, 2026, commissioners agenda; and Hickory’s Sept. 15 council minutes.
