Things may have changed, but in the not too distant past, the Hendersonville water treatment plant had to put chlorine and flocking chemicals in its water even though it was cleaner without the chemicals. Now, in Cashiers, the economy is not developing because people can’t hook on to the sewer system. They cannot hook onto the sewer system because it is operating at capacity. It is operating at capacity because that’s what state guidelines say. Government guidelines are based on the number of allocations, but half the allocations are not active. The allocations are not active because several belong to projects that went belly-up. The developments never came to fruition because of the recession. So, while half the allocations are sitting around unused, people who need water today either have to buy land with an allocation, install an environmentally-risky septic system if they have enough land to satisfy guidelines, or wait for the construction of a new treatment plant.
by Leslee Kulba
Wild West blogger