The Waterford—Paeonian Springs Project Needs to be Flushed

By Charles Houston

This County-Loudoun Water idea faces near-unanimous opposition, based on survey results and even door-to-door canvassing. Almost every day some new and odious problem pops up. Most recently the groundwater crisis has sounded a countywide alarm. It’s a special problem for this County scheme.

I’m finding it hard to write an update given the almost daily discovery of more problems. Instead, I’m going back to the beginning and sharing eloquent letters from two neighbors, which capture objections from a personal perspective.  

Two problems? Don’t create a third.

Clarkes Gap Road, which runs between Paeonian Springs and Waterford, is a beautifully scenic, winding drive. I have a farm with cattle, horses, and one donkey to keep our disabled cow content. I have lived there for 32 years.

Many years ago, I planted trees to help contain the rushing, tumbling Catoctin Creek that ran through our farmland. The springs below the ground filled a cistern where the animals drank. 

When the adjacent community of Beacon Hill was developed, I was told that it would NOT affect my springs or water table. This was NOT true. The Catoctin Creek that once rushed and tumbled through is now a dry bed. The cistern I enclosed to water our livestock is now empty and unusable.

Now the county tells us that they are going to tap our water supply by drilling additional wells on neighboring properties extracting 600,000 gallons per day from the aquifer, an aquifer that may or may not be able to sustain it for any length of time. The county plans on having Waterford residents cap their existing (though viable) wells and charge them to hook up to the new system. If the aquifer is drained, I wonder how I will water our livestock? What will happen to the property values of the homeowners along and behind the road? 

We DO want our neighbors at both ends of Clarkes Gap to have a positive solution to their septic and water issues. Every home needs safe, good water and septic system. We DO support more cost effective and less impactful small-scale solutions to improve our water/wastewater system for the benefit of all present Loudoun County residents. And there is hope.

The solutions lie in addressing each Village’s issues separately without creating a third problem with the digging up two miles of Clarke’s Gap Road. There are less invasive, less expensive, and more sustainable solutions to the problems in both Villages. These and other methods must be explored. 

We DO NOT support the agenda proposed by Dewberry and Loudoun Water for our area, as we have already personally witnessed the devastating impact that will cascade through our fragile environment from this proposed project. We do NOT want Loudoun County to spend additional funds on the Waterford, Paeonian Springs tie-in project. This costly project threatens the beauty of our scenic byway, the aquifer along the byway, farms, and even the future of our water supplies in both villages of Paeonian Springs, Waterford, and the homes and farms in-between. 

Don’t create a third problem or we’ll be up a dry creek without a paddle.Interested in knowing more?  https://www.savethebyway.org/ —Thomas Walker

We Don’t Want Your Solution: It’s a terrible idea. 

We want safe, clean water and septic: everyone does. Our house in the village of Paeonian Springs has serious septic issues that necessitate an immediate and expensive solution. But we don’t want the county’s project. Why not?

We are not opposed to improvements that are beneficial to our community. Everyone deserves access to water and waste removal. We do, however, disagree with the present Paeonian Springs/Waterford Interconnector plan. We own a house in the village of Paeonian Springs that has a septic issue. The proposed solution will not solve our present problem. In fact, it will force us to undo our present renovation if this project is approved.

Our initial concern started with the lack of transparency of the Dewberry’s and Loudoun Water’s agenda. They were well into the feasibility study before most residents learned of the plan through word of mouth within the community, without official notification to the residents. In fact, the proposed Interconnector Water-Sewer System failed to comply with its own proper protocol. This alone should be a red flag. What other surprises are in store if we continue on this course?

We are also disturbed by the high probability that the County will force residents to hook up at the cost of $15 K per homeowner, both septic and water. Worse, there have been several incidents where new, higher water flows from a public system have caused old pipes to burst, requiring re-plumbing of the entire house, over and above the $15,000 hookup fee. [Houston: The water and sewer hookup costs for Paeonian Springs could be up to $30,000, while hooking up to a water system could cost Waterford residents up to $15,000.]

This proposed Interconnector water-sewer system between the Village of Waterford and Paeonian Springs has also failed to consider the environmental impact on the community.

This proposed Interconnector threatens to deplete the aquifer and future water supplies in the farmland between the villages and thus, both villages of Paeonian Springs and Waterford. In the process it will permanently damage the Clarkes Gap Road scenic byway and cause a three-year commuter nightmare during construction.

We do support more cost effective, timely, and less impactful small-scale solutions to improve our water/wastewater system. The solutions should solve each Village’s specific problem without involving Clarkes Gap Road. The Waterford Preservation Group has researched less expensive, quicker, and sustainable solutions to the problems in each Village. These and other methods must be explored. 

As a homeowner in the village of Paeonian Springs I am asking Loudoun County to take back this solution. We don’t want it.—Jayne Walker

A former office building developer, Charles Houston has been involved in countless efforts to preserve western Loudoun. Unfortunately, residents almost always lose, a testament to the power of greedy promoters and the unwillingness of our government to stand up for us.