Public water on the way for the Mabe-Stanleytown Community


By KEVIN CASTLE
Published September 20, 2005

http://www.timesnews.net/article.dna?_StoryID=3548383

MABE - Public water will be flowing soon in the Mabe-Stanleytown community. Shelia Stanley plans to wait. After all, it's been 15 years since she has had a drink of water from the tap.

She moved to the tiny locale, which is located just outside of the Duffield town limits on Route 653, 15 years ago from Maryland, where water abundantly flowed and no worries were attached.

"The spring we use is a mile away from the house. Since I knew animals were going to be near the source, there was no way I was going to drink it. I was just never used to turning on the spout and water not coming out, but that's what happened,'' said Stanley, referring to drought conditions in 2002 that rendered her home waterless.

The days of dry wells will soon be a memory, as construction crews under contract with the Scott County Public Service Authority work to bring public water into the area by early October, according to PSA Executive Director Jack Bush.

A water project celebration Monday hosted by the Lenowisco Planning District was accompanied by some unexpected news from state Sen. William Wampler Jr., R-Bristol, who stated an additional $105,000 in funding will be infused into the project to serve an additional 10 homes.

That means 144 families will turn on and get potable water for the first time once final, state-mandated testing procedures such as pressure gauging and detoxification of lines are complete.

"This is an example of those water projects that we still have in front of us, the ones that are going to be a little bit harder to complete because of the topography. However, the hard work of this community and others will make the project reality in just a few weeks,'' said Wampler.

The PSA was called to Mabe-Stanleytown in 2002 after a lack of precipitation caused natural wells and springs to dwindle, causing several homes to be without any type of water.

"It's really gratifying to see a community that we had to bring water buffaloes to just a few years ago finally get the water they need,'' said Bush.

A four-pronged collection of funding agencies - Lenowisco, the PSA, the Virginia Department of Health, and the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development - dedicated $1.6 million in funding for the project, which will help bring water to another community just over the mountain.

Bush noted that the water pumped into Mabe-Stanleytown will be directed via transmission lines from a 100,000-gallon storage tank into the Glenita and Natural Tunnel communities, and more notably, Natural Tunnel State Park, one of the few parks in Virginia that currently operates on well water.

Several community members came out Monday to help the PSA commemorate the near-completion of the project and celebrate the events yet to come.

"Boy, I cannot wait. I think I'll have a drink. That's one of the first things I'll do,'' said Stanley.