3 new groups join lawsuit over Catawba River water

CHARLOTTE — Three new players have joined South Carolina’s lawsuit against North Carolina over the transfer of Catawba River water.

The Charlotte Observer reports Charlotte will join the defense of the lawsuit at the U.S. Supreme Court. The San Francisco lawyer hearing the case as a “special master” ruled Tuesday the city can join the case.

Special master Kristin Linsley Myles also said Duke Energy and a water system serving Union County, N.C., and Lancaster County, S.C., can join.

Duke Energy manages the river. The water system, called the Catawba River Water Supply Project, is allowed to take up to 36 million gallons a day from the river.

South Carolina sued last year after North Carolina allowed Concord and Kannapolis, which are in a neighboring river basin, to pipe up to 10 million gallons of water a day from the Catawba.

Information from: The Charlotte Observer,
http://www.charlotte.com

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)