Three small towns along the Pigeon River in western North Carolina are joining forces on a $19.2 million project to connect their water systems for the first time, a direct response to back-to-back shocks that exposed just how fragile isolated mountain utilities can be.
Canton, Clyde, and Waynesville plan to build roughly 6.6 miles of 12-inch water transmission lines linking their separate municipal systems into a single network across Haywood County. The goal: if any one town loses its water supply to a disaster, drought or contamination event, the others can immediately backstop it.
The need has never felt more urgent. Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina in September 2024, knocking out water service for weeks across the region and leaving Asheville without potable water for nearly two months. Smaller mountain systems fared no better. Then there is the wound that Canton is still tending: the November 2023 closure of the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill, which had operated for 115 years and employed more than 1,000 people. The mill wasn't just Canton's largest employer. It was deeply woven into the town's water infrastructure, serving as a major customer and operational anchor for Canton's municipal system. Its sudden shutdown created a utility crisis on top of an economic one.
The financing reflects just how much this project means to Canton specifically. Despite being the smallest of the three towns, with roughly 4,400 residents, Canton is taking on $10 million of the debt, more than half the project total. Clyde, population around 1,300, is borrowing $4.3 million. Waynesville, the county seat and largest of the three at about 10,000 residents, is contributing $2.8 million. Haywood County is putting in a $2 million grant. All three municipal loans are coming through North Carolina's State Revolving Fund, a program capitalized by the EPA and expanded significantly by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
North Carolina has pushed hard for exactly this kind of regional collaboration. The state's Viable Utility Reserve program prioritizes funding for small systems that consolidate or share infrastructure, a policy born from the reality that hundreds of the state's roughly 500 water systems are too small to remain financially stable on their own.
Waynesville is leading the effort on behalf of all three towns. The project listing is posted on the town's bids page, where engineers can submit qualifications for work that will include environmental review, design and construction oversight. Firms must submit qualifications by Sept. 30.
