INC NEWS - stopping growth and conservation measures

[RW Pickle]

While stopping growth sounds like a good idea, it doesn't make cents.
Forget the water for a moment, it's a temporary thing and the first time
such a shortage has ever happened. It's not because we're growing at such
a fast pace the amount of water can't keep up with it. We've just been
through one of the worst droughts on record, so there's bound to be a
water shortage. Why? Because there has been no water coming from the sky.
I see it as a wake up call. Now we know it can happen, we can work to fix
it. There's plenty of water out there, it's just not in the right places.
Just envision a pipeline from the coast and think about how much water is
there. It's all just a temporary problem. Other areas of our planet are in
much greater need for water then we will ever be. Just fixing the leaking
water pipes (earlier this year) would have given us a additional month
even in this drought. raising the dam at Lake Mickie (in elevation) would
add an enormous amount of volume to our supply. Connecting the region
would do the same thing. Then water becomes a regional concern instead of
just for one community. And if it were to rain for a month, we'd all
forget that we ever had a shortage and normal use/waste (I bet) would
return. That's where conservation comes in.

What we should begin to do immediately is to implement a conservation
model for water use. Use less, pay less. It's a known fact that hitting
the pocketbooks of users for whatever service leads them to conserve. And
it rewards those who practice conservation even if there is plenty of
water to go around. We have to come up with a different model that allows
our City to continue to collect/plan for expansion and repairs. As it is
now, with revenues on a decline, the additional funding will have to come
from somewhere. Any guess where that'll be? Us of course. All the bills
are paid by us.  That's why there has to be a new revenue model initiated
in order to balance the funding formulas. I read today that there was a
surplus of $70M in the water fund account. That sounds like a big number,
but that's only 700,000 feet. According to the same article, we have
881,000+ feet of aged, leaking pipes to replace. So that's not even enough
to fix what we need to fix...

We need to continue to grow our tax base. No growth means higher taxes.
Just this week figures were released that placed NC eighth on the fastest
growing states (by population). People are going to continue to come, so
they'll all need a place to live. That is, if we want our regional economy
to continue to flourish. And growth in our neck of the woods means the
companies here are growing or new ones are moving here. Stopping growth,
stops growth. And growth is a good thing. The other side of the coin from
growth is a bad place to be. Look around the country in the larger cities
where the economy is depressed. That's a bad place to be right now...

I don't see us running out of water. With every rain, we get more. And
with this being the slow season for water use, it gives the City time to
legislate what we can do and not do with the water we do have. In other
parts of the country, they make people with pools and irrigation systems
install wells (instead of using the city-treated drinking water). Both of
those ideas, used in other cities, make sense. And I'm sure there are
more. We're not the first city to have a water shortage. What the others
did when they came to this same bridge holds some better ways in which to
deal with it in the future.

If you're not collecting the rain water we get, then that's one step you
can take today to aid your the use of water. Every time it rains (even a
little bit), the barrels fill back up. They're all running over now, so
what spills out will make its way downstream to our empty reservoirs. When
I need it, I have around 325 gal. (soon to be 450+) at my disposal. It's
such a simple thing to do. I'd be curious to know how many people on this
list use rain barrels. Don't just talk the talk, walk the walk. All
conservation begins with you.

RWP
27 Beverly