Watauga River Intake Background
The Watauga River Intake project will provide water from the Watauga River at an intake site near Guy Ford Road Bridge over the Watauga River to the Beech Mountain water plant. The Town has a 99 year lease on property directly on the Watauga River where the plans call for building an underwater intake site. The water would be pumped from an adjacent pump station along Highway 321 and then up Buckeye Road to an intermediate pump station.
From there the water would continue along Buckeye Creek Road to the water plant, a total of about 7.5 miles. The Intake is expected to operate only in times of drought or other critical water shortages on Beech Mountain. The project requires reclassification of the watershed and approvals from multiple local, state and federal entities.
